


Reindeer Games

by Gepardo



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bestiality, Centaur, Cervitaur, F/M, M/M, Multi, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-19
Updated: 2014-01-08
Packaged: 2017-12-20 15:47:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 24,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/889042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gepardo/pseuds/Gepardo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is probably the oddest Christmas story you'll ever read.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please understand that this AU contains bestiality(or boarderlining it). Please also understand that this was started before Neal was officially uncovered as Baelfire, hence why they are two difference people here. 
> 
> There is chances that some chapters not being in chronological order.

"I am not being unreasonable." Mr. Gold looked at his son. “The lightest doe still has 300 pounds on you." 

"I don’t see you showing this much concern about the other handlers"

"I don’t care about the other handlers. They are not my child." He glared the smiling faun. 

Baelfire laughed. “Papa, you forget, I used to be one of you. If anyone here has a chance of having a record with no injuries, it’ll be me."

"Why can you go back to working the foals? I would feel better that way. Or just be assigned to me" He gave a large grin, thought the look his son gave him made it fade away. 

"The point of me having a job is so I can interact with other people who aren’t you, and while I have infinite patience  and I hope one day to escalate you from greatest papa to bestest grandfather, I have learned I can’t stand looking after twenty foals. I need to be around other people, preferably with the same maturity level as me."

They both paused, as if expecting something to contradict what Baelfire said, it was a common enough occurrence. When nothing happen, they started walking, only to have their path cut off by Charming, who was being chased around by frying-pan-wielding Snow. Gold watched them go by with some curiosity. “I wonder what happen this time…"

"Maybe he forgot to put the seat up." The faun chuckled then turned to see the old cervitaur giving him a strange look. “Oh..right..elf thing only…Sorry. Nevermind."

Coming up to the building housing the handler assignment office, Gold made one last attempt, swooping down, he pulled his son up. 

"Woah! Woah! Put me down! We are not playing that game!" Baelfire laughed good naturedly, but the hard look in his eyes had the poor cervitaur putting him back down. Gold folded his arms and pawed at the ground, looking more like a child who had been made to return a stolen cookie to its jar, rather then the mature adult that he was. 

Sighing, Bae gave him a sweet smile. “Would it make you feel better if I ask to be assigned to one of your teammates?"

"Very little itty bitty bit." 

The faun patted Gold’s leg before attempting to go into the building, only to stop when it was obvious Gold was coming in with him. “Where are you going?"

"With you?" The lost and almost hopeful voice was nearly enough to break Baelfire’s resolve, but not completely.

"No, you can’t even fit in the halls. Stay out here"

"But-"

"Stay. Out. Here." Oh look, the pouting child was back. Bae rolled his eyes at his father’s antics and went inside.

\- - - -

Gold sighed, lying his deer body onto of a large pile of tightly packed hay, keeping him high enough that he could rest his bad leg, but still get up without assistance. Baelfire had been gone for half an hour now, and it was driving the old cervitaur mad. There wasn’t much of a distraction going on to keep his mind away from worry. Snow had already caught up to Charming, he still had no idea what the poor sod had done. Jefferson was hiding in a nearby hay stack, and by the bruised lips of a certain storming Victor, he could guess what had happen there. 

He was nearing the time where his thoughts turned towards snapping his horns off when he felt a hand on his hindquarters. “On your right." 

One of his ears swivel around before he turned to watch Mal come up to him, she was lucky his back legs were tucked under him or he would had kicked her. “What brings you over?"

"Oh nothing, just you were mopping." She held out a mug of coffee with an all-too-sweet smile.

"I do not mop." Taking the coffee, he gave it a sniff. “So what did you do to it?"

She gave an gasp. “Nothing! Why would I ever do such a thing? You suspiciou-" Gold twitched an eyebrow upwards. "….Salt…I put salt in it." 

"Hmm, you should know better…" Gold chuckled, thought his ears were twitching again. Peeking over his shoulder, he found a pair of teenagers watching them closely from a few feet away. The blonde one seemed to be looking at his hay bed with some jealousy. “Friends of yours?"

Mal’s lips twitched into a small smile. “Replacements, they are almost ready to take on the mantel of sleigh leader. Next year one of them will be taking over my old team."

"Next year? I thought you were retiring this year." He almost sipped at the mug he held, but was quick to hold it down. “Finding out you are not as good as teacher as you thought?"

"I am an excellent teacher." She huffed. “I am just postponing my decision. One of them got pregnant, so I am going to wait until next year."

"Pregnant?" He looked back at them, now he could see the blond one had certainly a bit of a pot belly. “They can barely be but a couple of years younger then Bae."

Mal laughed. “Not everyone waits until they are three centuries old to have children, Rum"

Mr. Gold gave her a look. “And some of us are pushing 200 and are still flaunting themselves around like some spring doe." He looked towards the two teenagers, both female, but very much opposite of each other. Where the blonde wore a bright red comfortable sweater and matching blanket, the dark brunette wore an imposing fur-lined leather jacket, perhaps trying to imitate Mal’s fur jacket. "….Your favorite one is the one pregnant, isn’t she?" 

"Shush, or they’ll hear you."

He chuckled softly. “You shouldn’t be stringing one along when the other one already has the job."

"She doesn’t have it yet. Besides, I think Regina could improve her manners if I work with her, then it will be a fair competition."

"Regina…Regina…isn’t that the doe that keeps getting into fights with Snow?"

Mal smirked a little. “Well, well, becoming a bit of gossip in your old age ?"

"Hardly, Charming’s voice just carries when he whines." Gold made a face. 

"Hmm..speaking of old age….What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be tailing your little boy around?" Mal tilted her head, watching Gold huff, but give a quick look towards a building. “Oooh….Little boy isn’t so little anymore. Already leaving the nest and all"

"He isn’t leaving anything." Gold growled. 

"Oh come on now…" Mal smiled and leaned down, coming closer to him. “You know, with my retirement next year, I’ll have a lot of free time…"

Rum leaned a bit away, trying to keep his eyes upwards. “Y-your point being?"

"Well, you don’t have to have an empty nest for long."

"I-i..i…." He swallowed, eyes starting to drift down towards her collar bone and, oh…she wasn’t wearing anything under that jacket. “I…" 

There was a cracking noise and then pain, he looked down to see the mug he had been holding, crushed by his fingers, shards digging into his palm. "…I need medical help." 

\- - - -

"I don’t see why you didn’t go get a handler to tend you." Baelfire shook his head as he disinfected the cuts none to gently. 

"…I couldn’t get up with polite company around." He hissed softly at the pain. 

"Oh that’s just…not something I ever want to picture about you ever again…" The faun made a face of childish disgust. “Parents don’t…do that…" 

"How do you think you came into this world?" Gold chuckled then whined at another swab of alcohol. 

"Magic" He stuck his tongue out. “How did this happen, anyways?"

"We are not talking about that."

"Does it have anything to do with the laughing Mal I passed on my way back?" He had ran off to get a first aid kit the moment he seen his father nursing a bleeding hand. 

"Perhaps…." Watching his son wrapped up the wounded hand. “Who did you get assigned to?"

"Master of segues, you are not." Bae chuckled softly. 

"Well? Are you in my team?" 

"Yes and No" Baelfire smiled, finishing dressing the hand. “There, all done."

"What do you mean, yes and no? Did you get assigned to Jefferson?" The hat wearing idiot did do a lot of jumping between teams, depending his schedule. Gold turned towards the hay stack said cervitaur was still hiding in, though he was peeking towards them. “Because I don’t like it, he is already eyeing you." 

"It’s not my rump he is looking at, papa" He laughed. 

"Show interest one time…." Gold murmured under his breath and glared over his shoulder, his cheeks reddening, but if asked, he would blame the nippy weather. “VICTOR!" 

Jefferson’s eyes widen and tried to hide once again, but was too late as a furious cervitaur was already on him. With a pitchfork.

"Now, who did you get assigned to?" Rum called back his son’s attention, who seemed very interest in what could very well be the murder of Jefferson. “Son.."

"Graham…I got assigned to Graham Humbert." Bae answered distractedly, still watching the two fighting cervitaurs. "…they are going to get their horns locked…"

"Humbert? There isn’t a Humbert in my team." Gold frowned and reached over to grab Bae’s goatee, pulling to make him look at him. 

"He is Neal’s replacement."

"Replacement? Neal isn’t retiring." At least he wasn’t last time he checked. 

"If you lived closer to _anyone at all_ , you would know that he is. Apparently he has a kid on the way." 

Gold grumbled, recalling a certain blonde. “I see….Now I have a new tail end to train." 

"Graham is very nice, he won’t give you any problems. At least for what he file says." Bae chuckled. 

"Files are deceiving."

"Yours say you are a pain in the ass, I would say that’s pretty accurate." The faun smirked and moved out of his reach quickly. “Come on, his file says he is very quiet. He’ll probably be like Archie." 

"Oh, great, another Hopper."

"Can’t be you be happy for anything? Like me having a job in your team?"

"No." Gold managed to grab him. “I would be happy if you weren’t moving out."

"You are impossible, also in your file." Baelfire chuckled. “One of these days we’ll have to find someone that handle you."

"Hmmm…that’ll happen when Jefferson stops trying to mount Victor." Gold and Baelfire turned to see a handler trying to cut the prongs of said cervitaurs’ horns, in an effort to pull them apart without removing the whole rack.

"Well…we can dream…" 


	2. Bath Time and Coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cervitaurs: Mr. Gold, Henry, Jefferson, Victor, Charming, Lance, Graham, Killian, Archie
> 
> Handlers: Belle(elf), Baelfire(faun), Abigail(elf)

Showers were okay, baths were fine. 

Being clean is good, there is no denying it. Nothing soothes away aching muscles like a long soak in hot water. 

As a general rule, bathing was a-okay thing on in Mr. Gold’s book, at least that was until Belle became his handler. It took this tiny mousy woman just a little over two weeks to have Gold try to find a way to shut down all water in his home. Most cervitaurs were happy and fine with getting soaped and hosed down on a monthly basis. Mr. Gold was used to a weekly shower, enjoying a dusting of dirt over having his coat tangled and stiff with month-old sweat. He was content with that. That was his part of his weekly routine.  _It was just fine._

Apparently Belle disagreed. There were days when she did things as they were suppose: She woke up first, made breakfast, came to wake him up with a mug of very strong coffee and then she went to shower while he chased away the dreaming world with unhealthy amounts of caffeine. The rest of the day was filled with lessons with Henry, team drills, time with Baelfire or just a quiet day at home. This should be what happen every single day, but nooooo, missy there decided to some days take advantage of his slow-to-wake nature. Belle would push and pull him about until he was up on his feet, guide him off to the bathroom and into the shower stall. Then the little witch would hit him with the stream of the coldest water that he was sure was just above becoming god damn ice cubes!

The first time it had happen, Gold had let out such a inhuman screech, he was absolutely sure that the rest of the herd had heard him,  _even thought his house was a good five miles away from everyone else_. 

"What is your malfunction?!?!" He had cried out afterwards, his whole body shaking as he tried to warm up again, the wench was safely wearing a ridicules yellow raincoat and was calmly switching the water’s temperature. 

She sprayed his face with a warmer jet of water. “You drink too much coffee, you are cutting back." She grabbed a bottle of liquid soap and Gold didn’t even try to keep from growling. 

"I am sure as hell not" It all went down hill from there.

It took Gold only two more similiar incidents to figure out that he was now getting a cold shower every other morning instead of coffee. She was going so far as to not allowing him coffee during the whole day, regardless what happen in the morning. When he complained about to his son, Baelfire just laughed and thanked the minx!

The cold showers wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t that they always turned into baths, not matter what he did, that little harpy would find her way onto his back and start washing his body. He growled and threaten her whenever she tried to go anywhere near his head or his human half, but somehow the threats didn’t work when they were about his deer part. He also refused to take his shirt off while she was still in the shower with him. She pointed out that the parts of his anatomy he should care to cover up she could plainly see, but he didn’t budge. He didn’t care how ridicules it was to stay under the shower with a shirt on.

They had gone through a whole bottle of soap already and he didn’t see her stopping any time soon. He had tried hiding the bottle, but she would just use the bar of hand soap from the sink. Hid that. She used his hair shampoo. Hid that, and she found the actual liquid soap again.

Needless to say, Rum no longer enjoy bathing.

Also, he wasn’t on speaking terms Belle anymore. She hid the coffee and it didn’t matter how much stronger his sense of smell was, he couldn’t find it. 

It made things a bit awkward, since he refuse to acknowledge any of her questions or orders unless they were pass down by another cervitaur. Obviously, it made the trip they were taking down to one of the material stations all that more difficult. It didn’t help that it was the middle of summer either. Having the sun up, regardless the hour, meant taking the longer route to it to keep anyone from seeing them. It didn’t matter how much magic one used, it was impossible to completely hide a large sleight with wheels and a team of nine cervitaurs.

They hit the runway hard, the sleight bouncing around behind them. Graham cried out when he was slam against both Charming and Lance when the sleight lurched forward on him. Killian and Archie panicked, trying to get away. Rum huffed as the whole team shifted, sending both Jefferson and Victor almost on top of him. 

"Calm yourselves!" He snarled, turning to glared at the pile up behind him. 

"WE SAID TO LAND GENTLY!" A blonde elf yelled from the sleigh, glaring full on towards Gold, who just rolled his eyes. Abigail, nice girl, good handler. Was Gold’s for a whole month before she asked to be reassigned. 

"Was it my fault?" A timid little voice snapped Gold out of his foul mood as he looked to the small cervitaur ahead of him. Henry was nervously pulling at a loose string of his sweater. 

"No, it wasn’t. You never landed on anything but snow. I should had explained better how we land on asphalt before we got here." He turned back towards his team, who were trying to pick themselves up, but were still hopelessly entangled on each other and their harnesses. Belle and Abigail, the only handlers that had come with them, had run to find some other elves to help with the disaster. "…for your first time, its pretty good, to be honest."

Henry smiled at him before taking in his surroundings  his eyes widening a bit. Gold chuckled. “You never been this far south before, have you…" 

They were still in the arctic, but the fields were cover in tall grass and flowers, thought the area around the landing strip was mud pit from too many vehicles and cervitaurs going through the same paths. . “Its different from looking at it up in the air. Its like a giant greenhouse that just keeps going and going!" 

"That’s…certainly one way to look at it." The old cervitaur laughed softly. He look down to find Henry standing at the edge of the asphalt and staring at a rather large mud puddle. Mud was common back home, but mostly froze around their hooves. One could go into a green house and over water a vegetable patch and rolled around in it until you were cover, but you had deal with some severe punishment afterwards. 

Gold notice the only thing standing between Henry and that puddle was just the leash attach from his harness to the the little boy’s. He shifted a little, watching Henry nearly leap into the puddle, but being kept back by the leash. 

"Don’t you dare." Abigail’s voice came form somewhere behind him. Peeking over his shoulder, he saw several elves already working on straightening the mess of limbs and harnesses. The blonde was giving him the evil again. 

"He’ll catch a cold." Another voice spoke up. Belle. She trying to get Graham back on his feet. How had he gotten his horns locked with Lance’s? “Keep him away from it!"

Catch a cold. He snorted, sometimes he wonder if they forgot that they had thicker skin then that. He flashed them a smirked, flicking his wrist, the lead to the sleigh unclasped from his harness and he began to leaning to his side, making believing he was falling. “Oh no….." His voice over dramatic. “He is too strong…!"

Henry squealed happily as he leaped into the mud and went further out into the large puddle, pulling Gold along, who wasn’t paying attention, until the adult caught his both left hooves on the end of the runway and tripped. “Ack!"

The whole world seemed to freeze the moment Gold hit the soft ground. Henry stared at him, terrified. "…..oops"

It took him a moment, but Gold rolled over onto his back, muddying himself further. “Hmmm…." He grabbed the boy and started tickling him, joining on the laughing as they became completely cover. A noise of distress was broke the moment and they both look back to see the team and a bunch of elves just staring a them. “What are you all doing? Henry is still leader, get in!"

The elves didn’t have a chance. Between minutes, the whole team was in the mud, cover from head to hooves in mud. Killian had to be drag in and sat upon to be dirtied, but the rest of the team was more then happy to indulge the temporally insane Gold. At the end of the day, Belle and Abigail stood at the end of the runway, staring at them, unable to tell where one ended and the other began. 

\- - - - - -

Eight centaurs were clean and almost sparkling. They were also covered in multi color ribbons, none of them were amused by this…well…Jefferson was rolling on the ground with a pile of extra ribbons, but Belle and Abigail agreed that they will just tell Alice to punish him once they got back. 

The nineth centaur was still sitting in a puddle of mud, smirking at his handler. “Yes?"

"Get out of there." Belle tilted her head, raising an eyebrow. 

"Hmmm..No."

"I am going to count to ten…" 

"You can count to two hundredth if you want, dearie." He smiled charmingly.

"One…" Belle spoke calmly, and watched Rum, who had the audacity to look innocent of any wrong doing. His smile become slowly predatory as he got up before she even got to two. "….Don’t you dare!"

"That seems to be a theme today…" He suddenly shook his whole body, sending mud flying in all directions and covering the poor girl from head to toe with it. Belle slowly wiped the mud away from her eyes and looked up at the smirking cervitaur. “You think that scares me? Try a-” 

Gold’s words died down as he stared at the item in Belle’s other hand. A single bell. The handlers never understood, and the cervitaurs weren’t willing to share, but the sounds of bells disturbed and disoriented  them to an unsettling level. If a handler ever wanted to keep one of them still, all they had to do is hook a couple of bells to their harness, they wouldn’t move an inch until they were removed. As an unspoken rule, bells were only use to keep cervitaurs away from places they should certainly not be. 

Rum wanted to bash his head against a wall when the bell started to sound out, but when it stopped, he blinked owlishly a few times, trying to figure out how he had finish inside a shower stall. Turning, he saw a smirking Belle and impressed-looking Abigail blocking the door way. 

“Why hasn’t anyone thought of using that on him before?” Abigail tilted her head. Suddenly both handlers ducked down when the bell flew across the room, embedding itself into the ball as Gold gave a low growl. 

“That’s why.” Belle entered the stall and closed the door before the other handler could speak. “Aren’t you over reacting a little..?”

“I don’t lik-…” He stopped, staring at her, his head slowly tilting a bit, as she removed her sweater. Normal enough occurrence in his home, the only difference, is that the mud had soaked the shirt she wore underneath. …..A white shirt….Had no one ever told her no to wear a black bra with a white shirt?  _Yes, sure, Gold, focus on THAT._  “What are you doing?”

“I don’t want to catch a cold.” She spoke as cheerfully , dropping the sweater in a corner and went to pick up the hose. “Now, are you going to be a child about this or actually let me do my job? Your leg is probably swollen after today‘s landing.”

Gold gave his back to her. “My leg is fine.”

“You aren‘t putting any weight on it“ She looked intently at the damaged front leg. The mud doing a good job at covering any indication of how inflamed it was. “Alright then….how about a deal?” She saw his ear twitch, revealing that he was at the very least interested to hear her out. “Let me clean you up without any fuzz and I won’t tie a bunch of pink ribbons on your horns.”

“What? Not withholding painkillers and compresses?”

“You could run off back into that puddle right after I finish cleaning you up and I would still give you those…” She sighed softly. “Do you think so little of me?”

He kept his eyes on the wall before him. “…….deal..”

The only response he got was a wistful sigh and a smile he never saw. 

Hearing water splashing against the ground, he closed his eyes, bracing himself for a cold jet of water, but when it never came, he peeked over his shoulder. Belle was washing the mud off her hands and moving to clean it off her face. A little voice in his head spoke of being logical, but most of his mind was focus on how the water made the shirt cling further and further against her skin, becoming even more translucent. . His eyes drifted downwards to see a couple of red lines peeking from under her pants. She had tattoo? Looking upwards again, he paused, he was quiet sure he could make out a rose pattern on the black bra. All it would take would be a flick of his wrist and all her clothes…

Belle opened her eyes and he turned back to look at his wall so quickly he was sure he strain a muscle. His mind was racing, so much so, he barely register that water was starting to run down his deer back. No, he refuse to be one of those cervitaurs. He wouldn’t be some idiot who foolishly lusted after a two-legged beauty…THING, HE MEANT THING.

His thoughts were broken when he felt water splashing against his neck, looking down, he folded his arms and glared at the smiling elf. 

“What were you thinking about?” She smiled, going back to cleaning his front leg. He bit back a wince as the hot water hit angry red scar. 

“Nothing that should concern you.” He bit back. 

“Right…” She moved to the other leg. “Aren’t you going to shower? Or do I have to take your shirt off with scissors again?”

“This is silk”

“Covered in mud”

“……..” He folded his arms and pointedly waited until she moved to his left side before he started to unbutton the top of his shirt, but paused as he felt her nimble little fingers ran under him. Turning, he didn’t watch her for a while. His eyes didn’t follow the curves of her body, the way her muscles contracted and moved under her skin as she twisted herself or took a deep breath. Gold raised an eyebrow, how could she not notice her shirt had effectively become…well…useless at the only purpose which shirts had. 

She was starting to cover him with soap. That was a little better, the foam was clinging to her form, making it harder from his to blatantly oogle her. …………..he didn’t oogle people. Good lords, maybe he was hanging around Jefferson too much. 

He moved a little, curling around her as he kept watching her. This wasn’t strange of them, well, it wouldn’t be if he was glaring at her instead of watching her with a strange mixture of  attraction and curiosity. 

“Are you being difficult?” He could almost hear the smile in her voice.

“No….” His fingers inched closer to her, it would be so easy to just slipped them under her collar and rip the flimsy clothe off her and…

"What are you doing?" She giggled, shrugging up her shoulders. She was ticklish there, that was something to file away. No, wait, don’t file away. What was he doing?!

Gold quickly pulled his hands back quickly and busy them with the buttons of his own shirt. “I…um…the tag was sticking out of the collar….pet peevee of mine."

He decided to just concentrate in his own breathing and the washing of his human body. 

\- - - - - -

Rum  lay down on a bed in the guest home kept in the small settlement. Material posts rarely had any cervitaur teams of their own, so their accommodations  were less then comfortable. He was trying to ignore the familiar and unfamiliar weights resting against his sides. Henry was nested his left side, covered in blue ribbons, while Belle was leaning against his right, nose buried in a book. 

Pulling at the pink ribbon tied around his neck, he gave the woman a slight glare. He had finally snapped when she pointed out the little lizard tattoo on his shoulder. Shaking his head, he shifted his weight a bit, leaning towards her. 

“What?” She murmured up at him. 

“Read outloud.” Rum tilted his head. 

“You can read”

He snorted. “I forgot my glasses.”

She gave him an exasperated look, but moved closer to his front legs, making sure no to disturb the cold compress there and began to read softly. 

He began to drift into a uneasy sleep, his eyes lingering on her lips and his last thought being that he was becoming an idiot. 


	3. Panty Raid

 

No one knew why or how Jefferson panty raided the female handlers(sometimes even the male handlers were hit). For someone his size, he really shouldn’t be able to sneak into an elf’s room. Regardless of that fact…

 

…Gold thought he looked ridicules, the idiot was going to get himself suspended again and last time that happen, by the time they let him back into the team, he had whole room stuffed with hand-made hats. No one was a winner when Jefferson got himself suspended. 

The leader shook his head and gave him an exasperated look. “Go return them before they come at your with bats and crossbows…"

"I didn’t take any from granny this time" Jefferson grinned.

"….that…..is actually a good thing." Gold sighed and paused for a moment as Jefferson canter around in circles, showing his new antler ‘ornaments’ off. A certain lacy black panty hanging higher then the rest. The rose pattern stitching was quiet familiar….His mouth open before his brain caught up. “Those are Belle’s."

Jefferson froze, eyes widening, and turned to look at Gold, whose eyes were just as wide. "…….How do you know that…"

_Danger, will robison! Danger!_ Panic quickly rose throughout the older cervitaur’s mind. Jefferson could jump into any conclusion, anything at all. Think, panicpanicpanicpanic, THINK. “Laundry. I pissed Belle off again, and she made me do the laundry and use my rack as a laundry line. She forgot to take her delicates out of the load she made me do."

Yes, that seemed reasonable, right?

"Liar" Jefferson’s lips spread into a saucy grin and started to stalk closer to the smaller cervitaur. “Tell me the truth"

"Ah..well…here is my retort." Gold spun around and bolted. 

"Come back here!" Jefferson ran after him.


	4. Iced Tea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cervitaurs: Mr. Gold, Jefferson, Victor, Ruby
> 
> Handlers: Abigail, Belle, Alice
> 
> The first line is from a book: “An Encyclopedia of Swearing: The Social History of Oaths, Profanity, Foul Language, And Ethinic Slurs in the English-speaking World" by Geoffrey Hughes.

_Coquette is a remarkably simple case of sex change: the original form was male coquet, a young cock, notable for what…Coquette is remarkably simple…_

_  
_Mr. Gold rubbed at his eyes under his glasses, he been reading the same line for the last ten minutes. Peeking at the broken cuckoo clock, it showed to be well past one in the morning. Belle should had been back from the bachelorette party by now, not that he was waiting up for her. Of course not. She probably decided to stay overnight.

Feeling his eyelids growing heavy again, he patted his waistcoat lazily, looking for the bookmark he had tucked away in it. His fingers brushed against a lacey fabric as he searched the hidden pockets, pausing for a moment, he gently tugged at it until it came close, slipping onto his fingers. Belle’s underwear. Fingertips traced the rose pattern, did Belle really think them lost to the snow? Its been weeks, she most then likely have forgotten all about them by now. Rum didn’t know what to think of his little prize, it long started to smell of him rather then her. They represented everything that was wrong with his little new obsession. His ever wrong lust. There wasn’t a cervitaur alive that wore such ridicules notion of underwear. It would just be a hindering piece of fabric that would serve no purpose. He sighed. He was a fool for even entertaining the notion of lusting after such woman. Just a minuscule of her scent still linger tho, and perhaps that’s why he kept them. 

A loud knock startled him from his thoughts, as he blindly tucked his shameful little secret into the book and snapped it shut, like a child hiding the shiny wrappers of eaten stolen candy. 

The knocking came about again, making him pulled his ears back as he got up onto his hooves. It was coming from the front door, it had better not be Victor once again hyper and in ‘need to find a lighting storm’. He refused to be strike by lighting again, not matter how good it had felt last time, he was just getting too old for such things.

Opening the door, he was met with the wide cheshire grin of one Jefferson. So no lighting storm, no, he was going to be talked into another ‘let’s freak out the Bigfoot people’ kind of night. They both needed some doe or buck to calmed them down. 

"What?" Gold sighed. “What could you possibly want at this hour?"

"Oh come on, you weren’t even sleeping." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"How do you know that?"

"You aren’t strangling me." Jefferson chirped happily, and Rum couldn’t help but wonder if the damn hatter ever slept. “I am here to deliver a very precious package. You should be nicer to me."

"I should had kicked you when you were foal." He waved his hand. “Well? Where is this package?"

The grinning cervitaur turned enough to show a couple of very bundle up elves burying their face into Jefferson’s back. He frowned and poked them a few times, until they turned just slightly to reveal it was Alice and Belle, both with their faces flustered from the cold. 

"What are they doing here?" Gold helped Belle down from the perch, careful to catch her as she tripped. 

"They both started on wanting to go home…" He shrugged, checking that Alice was still secured on his back. “Well, good night!" 

"Goodnight.." He rolled his eyes, helping Belle inside as he noted she was unstable on her feet. “Are you drunk?"

"Liiiittle bit" She giggled, tumbling about until she got to the couch.

He smirked a little while she clung to the couch for support. "…What is your definition of ‘little bit’? ‘Not yet grabbing a pole to not fall off the earth’?"

"Hahaha" Belle stuck her tongue out, or tried at least, the way she finish with her mouth wide open and her tongue hanging out was clawing at his resolve to not act on his lusting. He pushed her quickly onto the couch and shook his head.

"You need some water."

"What were you reading?" She twittered, peeking at the book on the accent table by the couch. Gold had barely taken a step towards the kitchen when he turned around so fast, he almost tripped himself. 

"Nothing!" He pushed the book off the table, sending it right into the trash can.

"Book abuser!" She gasped and tried to look over the couch’s arm and the table, but quickly sat back down with a hand over her mouth. He sighed and removed the book from the trashcan, putting the book away from her reach, he then handed her the garabe bin. 

"Stay put while I get you some water." He stepped into the kitchen. “I thought, and I am quoting here, that you ‘didn’t particularly like alcohol and don’t plan to drink tonight’"

Belle looked very interested in the contents of the trash, her dizyness seemed to had pass and replaced with drunk sleepyness. “Ruvy bought Aby a wook of minxed drins" 

"Oh?" He returned with a jar of water and glass, along with a couple of pills he hoped would help with tomorrow’s headache. 

She nodded quickly and stop just as fast, her eyes unfocusing, he was sure the room was probably spinning for her. Taking a deep breath, she spoke a bit more clearly. “I wasn’t gonna drink, but there was dis drin called long iland ice tea!"

Her eyes sparkled at the name and he had to laugh. Of course. If there was one thing he will absolutely never understand about Belle was her love for iced tea. In land where it snowed year round, one would think iced drinks would be the last thing on anyone’s mind, not Belle thought. Nope. Little minx said drinking hot beverages and even room-temperature liquids was boring after a while. He honestly thought she had a marble loose up there.

"Ah…" He poured her a glass of water and held it out to her. Her hand went pass the glass and to his hair, rubbing behind his ear clumsily, but still, he found himself leaning against her touch. “What are you doing, dearie?"

"Yur so cute" She giggled. ‘Cute’. Children were cute, little cuddly animals that did tricks for treats were cute. A little part of him spoke up, that part of him he kept trying to squash down.

"…Just cute?" At least his voice didn’t shake, didn’t stuttered, or so he would tell himself for the rest of his life. 

"Uh huh. Jus adobevable" Belle slipped down the couch, flailing about, trying to get comfortable in her drunken state. He force himself to try and think of anything else as he grabbed her wiggling legs and pulled off her boots. 

"Nothing else?" He didn’t like the begging state his voice was starting to have. 

"Umm…uh…" Blue eyes stared up at him, his hand still wrapped around her sock clad ankle. “Pwetty! You are ver pretty!"

"Ah…" He dropped her leg as it was a cup of decaffeinated coffee. Rum straighten his waist coat,  _needing_  something to do with his hands, least he try to gain another answer. Apparently his brain didn’t get the message. "…Belle…would you…ever kiss me?" Comparing to his latest fantasies, kissing was the most innocent thing, tho, it didn’t stop him for berating his own mind for making him ask such stupid question   

Belle gave him a curious look as a drunk woman could as he grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and held it for a moment before him, like a shield, over his chest. “Nu." 

"Ah. I see." He felt something inside him crumble, but he wasn’t entirely sure what. He forced himself to keep the pleasant smile he had until now being able to hold with little effort as he drape the blanket over her, then went to look for more, had to keep her warm after all. He pinched the bridge of his nose, of course she would say no, even while drunk out of her pretty little mind, what had he been thinking? He wanted to ask why, but bit his tongue, literally. He knew why.

"Even if I was human?" Apparently drunkenness stupidity could be contagious. 

"Evun then" Belle’s sleepy voice left him cold inside, colder then he ever been. He bundled her up, managing a twitch of smile as she hid under the covers warmth. A little part of him screamed to ask why, but the words had already died in his mind. As he lay down by the couch, he knew he couldn’t take another answer, even if by some miracle they were all untrue, he couldn’t take it. 

Folding his arms onto the cushion where her knees lay under several covers and duvet, he rested his head down and watched as she fell into an easy sleep he knew would elude him. Even as he lied to himself that he stayed by her side in case she needed him, he knew he stayed so that she would the first thing he saw the next morning. For the last few months, that was the norm, be her with a hot cup of coffee or a hose of cold water, so he stayed, not wanting to miss a single day, even if tomorrow he would wake up more broken then today. 


	5. Dancing Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cervitaurs: Henry, Emma, Neal, Mr. Gold

Snowstorms normally meant that Mr. Gold could go out of his home without running into any cervitaur or handler. No one liked to go out and freeze their extremities off, they usually came fast and randomly, to the point he sometimes was blame for them. It was absurd, but he didn’t mind. Much. The bigger point, anyways, was that he was almost assure pure isolation during a snowstorm, which is why he was quiet annoyed when he spotted a light a few yards form him. 

Knowing very well he was too far from the village or his own home for it be normal little light, he was sure it was some idiot coming to tell him to ‘dispell’ the storm. He was about turned to leave, being able to bend the wind to ruffled around him mean he had a better chance of getting away before he was seen, but he paused. His ears swiveled around, twitching as he tried to hear through the distortion of the wind and the muffling of the snow. No…it couldn’t be…

His curiosity was peaked, as well as his instincts. No part of him would had let him walk away, not without confirming that he was wrong. Stepping closer, he began to notice how long hanging was the light until he was just a few meters away from it. It was no scout in a foolish quest to end a storm, but a child, shivering away. 

This was an impossibility. How could a cervitaur foal this small survived this long? The storm had been going strong for the last hour. Mr. Gold could feel his own limbs stiffening already with the cold biting at them, but his magic was what was keeping the frost bite away. Stepping closer, he notice the light was emitting from the foal’s nose. Alright, that was a new one.  

"Are you lost?" Rum paused, maybe his brain was froze, of course he was lost! The child before him snapped his head up so fast, the old cervitaur was worry he might break his neck. 

"Yes!" He stared at him, but Mr. Gold was a little more concern with watching the wind shifting around the boy like it had been doing around himself. Interesting. That wasn’t an easy spell. One had to admire what magic would do to keep it’s host alive. 

"Why are you standing around for?" He moved closer, giving up whatever body warmth he could. 

"Mom always said to stay in one place if I got lost."

"I don’t think she meant for you to that in the middle of a storm." Gold lowered onto his front legs. “Get on, before you freeze."

Huffing at the added weight of the boy, he got up once he was secured on his back. He peeked over his shoulder to watch the boy shivered still. "….Here, hold this." Reaching back, he held out a fireball to the child, whose eyes widen to an extreme Gold wasn’t entirely sure was possible outside the cartoons Bae used to watch. “Go on, hold it."

"B-but…it’s fire."

"Yes…and you are a magical, which means you can hold fire. It’s like holding a stone, but not, because it’s fire being hold in a spherical shape by magic and has nothing to do with stones. It doesn’t even weight anything. Now take it." The confuse and terrorize look he got in return was just plain infuriating. 

"….There really need to start teaching magic at a younger age…" He shook his head and took the boy’s hand, pressing the fireball there. The boy’s yelp was cut short and change into a noise of amused curiosity as he finally took the freaking thing and held it close. “See? Just a fire ball." 

"B-but how am I holding it?" 

"I’ll tell you how if you tell me your name" He started walk, hoping he was going towards the village. It was very easy to get turned around in a storm. 

"Henry, I-I’m Henry…" Gold wasn’t sure if the stuttering was from the cold or fear. 

"Ah, Emma’s boy." He nodded slowly. “How did you get all the way out here? This isn’t anywhere near the herd last time I checked."

"I was chasing my friend and I got lost..wait, you said you will tell me how!" Henry snapped out of his facination with the flames flicking harmlessly at his fingers. 

"Friend? There is another kid out here?" He stopped dead on his tracks and looked around, but the storms was just getting worse around them. 

"No, there is no one else out here." Henry shook his head. “How am I holding fire?"

"You said you got lost chasing your friend." Gold gave him an annoyed look, starting to regret giving the boy the fireball. “I am missing a very crucial piece of information if there isn’t another one foal being frozen out here."

The kid tucked the fire closer to his chest and nudged himself forward to hide his face against Gold’s back, making it near impossible for the old cervitaur to even try for eye contact. “There is no one else out here…"

"Oh…Imaginary friend, then." He started walking again. “There is nothing wrong with that until you follow them out to the middle of nowhere and get hit by a storm……and there is many different types of fire spells, the one I used is harmless to fabric and skin, it’s a fire specifically made to burn hay only. You can even coat your antlers on this type of fire and still, nothing bad would happen to you…well…your head will be unusually warm…"

"Are all spells like that?" Gold chuckled, at least the boy had stop trying to bury himself into his back. 

"Yes and no. Some spells are incredibly specific, and others are so vague, you’ll want to tear your hair out trying to figure out what they mean." He tilted his head. “No matter tho, magic has a way of doing what it wants rather then what you want. The more rules you put on a spell, the more draining it becomes because magic is trying to fight its way out of the restrictions. It does as it desires, and more then anything, it wants to be free to do as it pleases."

"You speak of it like it’s alive." 

The old cervitaur laughed. “It is. It can be incarcerate, kill, destroy, broken…….or you can guide it to sing, create, protect, be the beauty in everything around you." 

Around them, the wind shifted and turned, curving and taking a golden glow as it took shape. Wolves of snow, wind and golden dust began to howl as they ran in circles around the walking cervitaur and his little charge. They collapsed upon their path, golden flowers blooming in a trail before and behind them. “That’s why it has a price, why we have a limit to our abilities. To our will and rein over it."

Henry’s eyes were wide as he watched as wolves called out again and the flowers sang under the older cervitaur’s hooves. “It wasn’t imaginary…"

"Hmm?"

"I was making a snowman, and it started to move….so I followed it."

Gold kept walking, his magic becoming more subdue as he did, some of the flowers becoming snares that wrapped around his legs, snaking upwards in an odd heat that left him colder. “You don’t have many friends, do you, Henry?"

"I-I have a-alot of friends!" The boy puffed up, thought his voice flattering as the vines came closer to him. "….what gave it away?"

"Magic is alive, you want a friend, it will give one. It will be reckless and adventuring, and lead you to trouble." He peeked over his shoulder. "…and your nose kind of gave that away too."

Henry covered up the offending body part and Rum rolled his eyes at that. “There is nothing wrong with a glowing appendage. I been there…well…not with glowing nose, but, I been there."

Henry scooted forward again. “What?"

"As I said, it’s alive, it has it’s own energy, and when you have a lot of magic, it tends to manifestate one way or another. On you is a glowing nose…on me, it was accidentally turning things golden."

"That doesn’t sound too bad…"

"I once sneezed on myself and was specked gold for three weeks." He smiled a little at the boy’s muffled giggling. “See? The greats always have to pay their dues, thankfully is in our youths. They call you names, don’t they?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, don’t worry, you’ll outgrow them. I know I outgrew being “yellow-belly" and “Goldilocks" from when I turned my whole furcoat gold." He smiled. “It’s a rough road, but it does get better, Henry."

"Aren’t you called Mr. Gold tho?"

"That I am" He chuckled, his eyes softening. "…I earned that one when I turned my mother’s spinning wheel into solid gold. I was never able to get it to turn back to wood." Shaking his head as he muttered a little lower. “The spell still eludes me now…"

"Those names don’t sound too bad tho…"

"Yes, well, I suppose they aren’t compare to what they called me when I started to turn snow into a golden color every time my hooves touched it."

Henry’s attention seemed to perk up a bit more at that. “What did they call you?"

Gold snorted and sat down, letting the boy slide right off his back. “I told you enough embarrassing stories as it is, I am not giving that one away that easy." He turned and looked at the outline of his house, just feet away. “You know, there is a way to help with your nose.."

Henry got back up to his hooves, still clutching the fireball between his hands. “There is?" The hope in the boy’s voice almost made the old cervitaur wish he had said nothing. 

Opening the door, he let the child in before him, who was jumping around with much more energy then before. “As I say, your nose glowing is your magic manifestating itself. There is just too much of it, and you are not doing anything with it, so it has to do something. You might notice, I don’t turn things gold unless I want to."

Henry peeked around the room, obviously looking for any sign of accidental-gilded-items, but found the home to be a mismatched assort of furnishings  “Right, so I have to learn to use it."

"Indeed, for that, you need a teacher and purpose…" Gold closed the door and stepped towards the kitchen as little Henry explored his cluttered living room’s knicknacks, missing the slight smirk and plotting glint in the older man’s eyes. "…like..being a replacement to a sleigh leader…….We should call your parents, they must be worry."

"Okay!"

\- - - - -

"Now, now, Emma, what I am proposing isn’t that uncommon." Mr. Gold smiled. It taken a full two days for the snow storm to break, just enough time for him to give Henry an improvised lesson on his first spell and over excite the boy about having a tutor. “A lot of us who show a large magical core start training at a much younger age."

"Name two." The blonde doe across the table growled, refrained only by the hand of her husband on her shoulder. Thankfully, Henry was in another room, though Gold could see a little ear peeking from the doorway behind the two concern parents. 

"Myself and my son."

"Ah yes, that’s perfect example of what I want my son to become. Either a crippled hermit or magicless hybird." The words obviously left her before she could think them through, he was sure, but he couldn’t help the guttural growl that escaped him. 

"Accidents do happen." He force himself to be calm.

"Henry will be taught how to use his magic at the same age as every other foal. End of discussion" Emma leaned over the table, glaring at him as if it would scare him off. Fifteen, the age when any cervitaur could start training was fifteen, at that age, their size was at enough weight that they could throw it around if necessary when latched to a team. 

"That’s five years from now. Are you telling me you will keep me from training my replacement for half a decade because of a stupid tradition?"

"Who says Henry will be your replacement!"

"I am a sleigh leader, I get first pick on any new trainees. All the other leaders are young, five years from now none of them will be looking for a replacement. Henry will be either be trained by me, or he will grounded until another leader decides to retire. You know very well that anyone with that much power isn’t going to be allowed as support team." He tilted his head at both parents staring at him in surprise. “Sorry to tell you this, but he is that powerful, he would throw off any other magical his team if he was support. He has to go leader, or be grounded. Now…." He calmed his voice. “Are you going to tell me you want that?"

"No…" Emma crossed her arms. “But he doesn’t have to start training now."

"True…" Gold looked at his nails for a moment. “But, as I am sure you know, he doesn’t have many friends…"

"And this concerns you how?" Neal was the one to growl now. 

"It doesn’t, but I know Bae had a boost in popularity when he started his training earlier. No to mention that if Henry does get his core under control, he will be able to minimize the glow and interact with others at a better level." Yes, he was going for emotional blackmail, so sue him. 

Both parents were still glaring at him, but a little clacking of hooves from behind them, and their resolution started to crumbled. Henry must to spend an awful time around them to avoid the name calling and teasing. Neal glared, and the glint on his prongs made them look sharper. "…but we have rules that you will avid to, and if broken…"

Gold just smiled as he listen. In five years, he would have Henry trained and ready, he would be free of his contract. He was cheering on the inside.

"…a handler must be present at all times. Actually. you have to keep a personal handler through the whole training of Henry. The same one."

"What?" Gold snapped out his inner thoughts and stared. He had to keep the same handler for five years, he could barely keep one for five minutes!


	6. Mating Season

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is rated NC-17 and contains bestiality, or at least interspecies sexual acts. YOU BEEN WARNED. 
> 
> Cervitaurs: Mr. Gold, Jefferson, Victor, Ruby, Snow, Charming, Hopper, Graham
> 
> Handlers: Belle, Alice, Baelfire, Daniel, Gepetto

The air smelled heavily of a sweet and tangy scent Rum couldn’t place, but he didn’t care, his thoughts were muddle and foggy. He was too busy to think, his lips and tongue working hard, licking, kissing some teasing skin was kept peeking out of elaborately embroider silk work. His fingers pulling and tracing the patterns, trying to find the ribbon holding the sinful little cloth together. He grunted in displeasure as the skin was pulled away, heart beating quickly and breathing was swallow as his eyes, oddly glazed, watched the insufferable little handler wiggle her way free of his attentions and walk around him with a teasing little sashay to her hips. Belle was just deliciously clad in a negligee whose designs were remarkably like the ones of his dirty little treasure, her rose panties. Not that his attention was kept to that for long, the way the flimsy piece of cloth kept enough hidden to still drive him mad was enough to distract him from any thought.

Growling, keeping  all his hooves on the ground as he tried to grab her, fearing he would kick or stomp if he did not kept himself in check. The cunning little minx kept her distance, rounding about his body, using him as his own obstacle. Her little hands brushing against his flanks, making him paused in his mindless circling, as those nimble fingers disappeared to rub and scratch up the inner side of his back legs, inching slowly upwards…The hair and fur down his back bristled as she cupped his sac, massaging it slowly. Gold felt all four of his legs starting to tremble, his breath coming in quicker and ever dizzying pace. Snorting, he tried to remind himself that he wasn’t some young buck out in his first rut, but the thought was quickly forgotten as arm snaked forward and her fingers grasp what portion of his cock had already slipped from his sheath. He grunted his approval as gentle hands stroke him slowly, bringing him to a full erection with little teasing pinches and feather-light touches, and yet, he found something wrong. It wasn’t the concept of bedding his handler, at this point of the game, he had given up any moral ground. No, it was that in their current position, he had to twist his whole human torso around to get even a peek at the petite little minx of an elf. That won’t do, he was getting a neck kink already. 

That’s how he finish laying on his back, thought Rum wasn’t entirely sure how they had come to that agreement, as he still had very little access to Belle, with her standing just before his back legs, but at least he had a much better view. He moaned her name softly as her hands were on his cock again, her tongue darting between her lips for a moment and then…his eyes almost went crossed when she started to lick the whole length of his cock, little flicks of her hot wet tongue. He managed to concentrate enough to send a little wisp of magic to undo the laced ribbon on the back negligee, making the whole thing come loose slightly, sliding away from her skin just enough to give him enough of a peek of what treasures were hidden behind the black silk. His mind barely manage to register how stubbornly the silk clung to her when that sinful tongue reach the top of his cock, licking the slit on the head. He groaned, feeling his body tense and relaxed at the same time until he felt a jolt of something ram right through him when she gave the head a teasing gentle nip. 

“Belle…” He gasped, his hands once again trying to grab her as she so sweetly called his name back. “Belle…” Almost had her in his grasp, her voice singing his name over and over…

Suddenly he felt his whole body going into a free fall, his fur standing on end at the unwelcome sensation in his stomach before his head hit his arms, startling him awake. Bewilder, he looked around to see Belle, clad in her pajamas and a thick bathrobe, holding in one hand his pillow(which moments ago had been nest happily between his head and arms) and in the other, a cup of coffee. Owlish staring at her, his brain was slow and quick at the same time to catch up to what happen and the ugly feeling at the pit of his stomach appeared again. 

“Sorry, you kept saying ‘Bell’ over and over, I thought you were having a nightmare…” The sweet woman put the pillow down before offering the mug full of coffee, Colombian if his nose wasn’t lying to him. 

“Many would say I was…” He muttered softly, there was a throbbing between his back legs he was trying to wish away, but the sight of her, even with her hair in a messy bun and obviously just out of bed, was not helping his cause. The dreams were getting more and more vivid the last few days and it was driving him nuts. He took the coffee, pausing as a little voice in his head recall the day.

Today was Sunday. It was a day in which he never schedule anything, not even with Henry or Bae, it was the only day he slept in, and yet….He took a peek at the clock and groaned at ungodly hour of ten in the morning. “Why are you here?” He didn’t bother to keep the snarl from his voice as he pulled his ears back. 

Belle looked at the coffee expectantly, as if she thought her little bride would keep him a little more amiable to whatever she was about to say. He decided to take a sip, black, no sugar, no milk, strong. Alright, he pulled one ear forward, showing some interest in her words while he drank the coffee greedily. The handler smiled, wriggling her fingers nervously on her lap. “Emma called and asked if we could keep Henry for the next few days….” She began gently, giving him a little smile. 

“And I suppose you already agreed.” He huffed as he got a nod back. He couldn’t say he was completely unhappy about it, at least he would have the boy’s undivided attention. “ _Fine_ ” 

Her little happy squeak just sent a spike of arousal down to his cock and he shifted uncomfortably on his bed, glad that he had been sleeping on his stomach then on his back. Watching her get off the edge of the bed, he sighed into his cup and began to take a sip, but there was an odd tapping ruin his peace. Turning his eyes to the doorway, he saw the woman’s impatient pose and foot tapping on the ground. “What?”

“You have to go pick him up from the village.” Belle spoke as it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Why can’t you do that?” He had better things to do, like stop acting like some teenaged deerling who just a sniff on a doe in-heat. 

She huffed her exasperating. “You know why!”

He really didn’t, but also did not want to appeared ignorant to something he apparently should know. Pulling the blanket on his back a little even, he waved his hand. “Go ready the boy a bed, I’ll go in a bit. I suppose Bae‘s old room will do”

That seemed enough to satisfy her, as she skipped off out of the room and down the hallway. Belle was excited about Henry coming over, but he couldn’t understand why, after all, they saw the boy almost daily. Stretching, he finished his coffee before sneaking to the bathroom. Of course, Henry had never stayed over, perhaps Belle was happy to be taking care of a fawn? Well, the boy was a bit more of a deerling then a fawn anymore, but Belle did have a way with children. Somewhere in the back of his head, Rum knew Belle couldn’t be happy looking after him.

Shaking his head clean of those thoughts as he enter the shower stall, he tried to remember any reason why Belle couldn’t go pick up Henry…

———-

“Now it makes sense….” He muttered under his breath as he watched a doe cervitaur, shirtless and braless, ran by him, chasing some poor frighten pair of bucks. Hmmm….Snow certainly was given Charming and his twin chase. Poor girl, maybe she would conceive this year. 

The sweet and tangy scent of sex, heat and pheromones was so thick, he was surprise the snow on the ground wasn’t melting yet. It hit his senses hard and fast, almost dizzying him, but not enough to forget why he was here. Emma and Neal were probably trying for another child if they wanted to sense Henry away. “A few days” that crazy little minx said, ha! Two weeks of looking after a foal, he wasn’t sure he was ready for that, but he had given his word…

His thoughts muddle a bit as another doe walked pass him, giving him a once over before wiggling her tail and walking off invitingly into the closest house. He swallowed thickly but shook his head. Ella was too young for him. She had only mature a few years back, he was sure. Besides, another buck was following her quiet closely, one from her own generation. 

Stepping lightly and carefully, he spotted Alice, decked out in a sweater that had a bell patterned and wearing a necklace with several size bells, in her hands a clipboard. A good way to keep crazed cervitaurs away from her(the bells, not the clipboard, he had no idea why she had that), but hopefully, he would be able to approach her. He needed to know where Henry was, the boy would obviously not be at his house, where his parents were doing unspeakable things no child should witness.

“Alice…” Rum called out, expecting one of those bells to be pointed at him like a weapon, but she just looked up at him and gave him a nod. “What are you doing here?” His curiosity winning over his duty, after all, handlers were expected to leave the herd alone during mating season, unless the cervitaur they look after was disable, had a young fawn, or had absolutely no interest in joining in that season. Most siblings had at least a gap of a decade between them. 

She smiled. “I am making sure everyone who is not suppose to be here is already out.”

He peeked at the list, recognizing some of the handlers names, most of which was crossed out. “Ah…Are you missing anyone?”

“Just a few…”  He noted one of the names. “Why are you here?” Alice was looking at a different list, which have names of cervitaurs. “You are noted as a non-participant, that’s why Belle is staying with you.”

“When did I said I wasn’t participating?” He glared, he wasn’t planning to, but he had never made his choice known, he hadn’t even been aware that they were this close to mating season already. The barmy little handler dared smile at him.

“Well, you haven’t been recorded at a mating season since Bae was born and you were very scarce on the decades before the year he  was conceive.”

“You…keep track of that..?” His voice didn’t pitch at that, no, not at all. 

“Mmm hmm” She nodded distractedly. “We keep track of who is whose parent, who mates with who, the rate of likely to become pregnant or impregnate a female, and who participates.”

“ _Why_?” 

The woman looked up at him. “Well, mostly to make sure there is no inbreeding, or if a fawn is born with a defect or still born, we can trace back the parents and see if any other cases in their line, and make sure we can give the proper treatments for the fawn or parents to whatever heartache or disability that we encounter.”

Rum found himself nodding, seeing some sense of that. “We also like to take bets on who is going to do who.” That stop him mid nod. 

“What?!” 

Alice giggled. “Oh come on, Mr. Gold, for the next two weeks, handlers have to be bored out of their minds by the toymakers. We do what we can to entertain ourselves.”

“By betting on our sex lives?”

“Or lack of it.”

He glared at that, but was interrupted by the lapels of his coat being yanked. Gold blinked a few times when his nose almost touched a doe’s who was gripping his clothes. Ruby’s eyes were an impressive yellow at the moment, he noted. 

“Have you seen Archie?!” The uttered desperation in her voice was something Rum wished Hopper would be there to hear Ruby himself. Before he could answer, the handler interrupted.

“Sorry, Ruby, he’s gone and slipped away before we could put a tracker on him.”  He snorted at that, of course, Hopper was always sneaking off before mating season. No one knew where to, since no other herd’s handlers reported seeing him. The handlers wanted to put a tracker on him, not to bring him back in the middle of this chaos, but to make sure they could find him if something happen to the fool. 

“Slipped off after he invited you in for tea again, Alice?” Rum quirked an eyebrow, Ruby was still unnervingly close him and the scent was driving him nuts. His clothes were  certainly getting uncomfortably hot. 

The handler muttered under breath something before nodding. “Always the same thing! ’Ah yes, of course, the tracker, why don’t you come in for tea?’ and then ‘Oh please, won’t you get the sugar? Gepetto seems to have put it too far back on that low shelf for me to get.’ “ She did an impressive imitation of the shy cervitaur. 

“Hmmm” Rum dared poked that wolfish woman still clinging to his lapels for dear life. “We still haven’t seen him.”

“Damn it” She ran off, with Alice shouting after her to stay in the village this year. 

He watched Ruby go, unashamedly watching her rump for a moment. “….you think she will get lost tracking him again?”

“Yes, but we already got the tracker on her.” Alice sighed, not that he was listening anymore, watching a couple of bucks displaying their magic, he spotted Jefferson actually doing a display towards Victor, who looked completely unamused. Rum cringed when  they locked horns, hearing one of the antlers staring to crack under the pressure, but they were certainly getting the attention of several females, perhaps it had been a staged fight. It certainly fit their personalities. “Now, why are you here, Mr. Celibacy?” 

He glared down at the smiling woman. “I was asked to pick up Henry.”

“Ah yes, he is in there, napping.” She pointed to a small house, a small mailing office for any cervitaurs with family or friends in other herds that like to exchange letters. 

“Sleeping spell?”

“Yes” She seemed to hesitated for a moment. “Do you know where a cervitaur would hide a handler around here? I am still missing Daniel and I searched Regina’s whole house…”

He peeked at the list of handlers and cocked his head to one side, turning his eyes towards the village. “Don’t some of these houses have basements? I remember hiding in one when I was just a foal…no one notices the trapdoor since they blend into the floor so we won’t trip over the handles…”

Smacking her forehead, she cussed under her breath and ran off. “Thank you!”

Rum nodded and enter the mail office, picking up the sleeping cervitaur fawn. Another doe walked by him and he muttered to himself, unable to keep himself from ogling her. The faster he got out of there, the better. 

———-

The sight of Belle greeting him the moment he open the door was too much. Specially as his mind was still hazed with the pheromones of a doe that had some resemblance to her, so long as not looked to closely, had followed him through half the trip there. He just handed over the fawn to the handler, barely registering his son and Graham lazing in his couch before bolted back towards the village before he did something he would regret to Belle. 


	7. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Handlers: Alice, Belle, Abigail, Baelfire
> 
> Cervitaurs: Gold, Graham, Jefferson, Snow, Charming, Ruby

Two weeks had passed and still no sign of the old cervitaur. Belle was beginning to worry, actually she had been worry since the day he left and didn’t come back after a few hours. Worried about his bad leg, his well being, while she wouldn’t call Gold out on his age, his three centuries of age gave him wisdom and grace, not the ability to physically overpower males who were at least two hundredth pounds heavier then him. His magic would had done little to help him, mating displays were usually locking antlers and try to over throw one another. Now if she thought about it a little, she figure Gold for a sneaky male that lure a doe away while other males were busy bashing their brains out, but she knew that such actions had a big consequences if, or rather when, he was discovered. 

Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do but wait. Handlers couldn’t very well go into town and dragged away their charges by the horns to lock away in their rooms until all was over. Not that she was thinking about doing that next year, not that she had already circled all the items she needed to reinforced the doors in the latest mail order catalog. Not at all. No, Belle just concentrated in taking care of little Henry, and learning how to play Dungeons and Dragons from Baelfire(Graham had very little interest in the game, saying he just enjoy watching, but was finally dragged into a make-shift campaign Bae had come up with). Even thought everyone else had chosen a two-legged humanoids, after a moment of hesitation, Belle had decided on a centaur. The two cervitaurs and the faun got a kick out of it, rather then become offended. 

As much fun as the last fifteen days had been, worry still gnaw at her. So after her little ‘vacation’ was over, and handlers were given the all clear, Belle had bundle herself up, given Baelfire specific instructions of what Henry wasn’t allowed to do and then gotten on her snowmobile to bring Gold back. As far as she knew, he could be dying from blood loss and that was not happening on her watch!

The herd’s town appeared to be empty at first sight. Belle stepped off her vehicle carefully, the streets were litter with smashed doors, broken lampposts and shatter windows. The snow was gather higher then normal with everyone neglecting to clean it up, and some was tainted with blood. Nothing massively to show death, but it made her blood run cold as she picked her way through the village. The first sign of life she found came in the form of one Jefferson, laying lazily buried in snow, behind a mailbox. His pupils were dilated, reminding her of her old cat, high on catnip. He giggled madly and a tired smirk spread across his lips. His face seemed more angular, he seemed to have lost a lot of weight.  

“Hello” She tempted softly, poking his nose and only driving him into another bout of giggling, but she had to question him. “Have you seen Gold?”

“The bandersnatch fled as the others appeared…” He crooned with a sluggish tongue. 

“What?”

“Led on by that fear-stricken yell…” 

Belle sighed. “I don’t understand…”

“Of course you do not…you aren’t Alice…” He pulled himself to his feet, his smirk becoming a feral and hungry smile. “Have you seen my Alice?”

“No, but she will be here soon.” She didn’t like the gleam in the odd cervitaur’s eyes, specially as the darkness of his pupils seemed to over take the blue of his eyes, but she knew Alice had a way to deal with Jefferson’s eccentricness. 

“Good….” He giggled, going back to his childness. “Because I seemed to have misplace my dearest Vicky.”

“Don’t let Victor hear you call him that.”  Managing a small smile, she quickly walked away from Jefferson as he started to sing about a Jabberwocky. Shaking her head ,she continuo searching for her charge, meeting quiet a few cervitaurs in her way, she noted the does were more themselves, thought very distracted by bucks still trying to get their attention. The bucks, good lords, they all seemed to be high, all sharing on the dilated pupils and dazedness to them. They seemed more primal then does, many were just speaking in one word sentences, or just grunting at her before turning to speak in their own language to another cervitaur. They were a few that even snarled and roar at her when she stepped closer, specially if they were keeping watch over a sleeping doe, before they came to their senses and managed a small grunted apology. 

Belle kept on her search, thought kept a close hand around the sleigh bell tied to her belt, while it was spell soundless, she could easily take the spell off and scare off any cervitaur that got a bit too crazy. Even thought mating season was over, the cervitaurs were still a little on edge. She should had waited a few more days before coming, but the amount of wounds she seen on some of the males made her all the more concern to find him. 

Eventually she came up to Snow and Ruby, both of them nervously looking for someone. More then likely David and Archie or a handler. 

“Belle!” Ruby cling to her as did Snow, the thick musk coming off both of them was making her a bit dizzy for fresh air. They were both also very naked on their human body.

“Ruby, Snow, please!” She squirmed until the wolfish girl let go, getting a little apology smile, thought Snow seemed more reluctant to let go. “Are you two okay?”

Snow fiddled with her fingers after a moment of giving Belle her space. “Yes…” She wrapped her arms around herself, Belle noticing the modesty about being naked only came when they were around a handler. “I just don’t know where Charming is”

That made her pause. “You don’t?” Strange, Snow and Charming were married, it usually meant they would stick very close together during a mating season. “I am sure he went to get you something to eat…Everything is fine, everyone just needs to get some fresh air, a bit of food, and good shower. Maybe even a nap” She added, noting the dark circles around their eyes. “Just give the other handlers a few hours, they are coming from the elf village, okay? We’ll have everything sorted out and back to normal soon.” 

They seemed to relax a little at that. “Now, could either of you tell me if you seen Gold?” Belle sighed when they tensed up again, blushing as they look one way or another, anywhere but her. She gave them both a suspicious look. “Okay, what’s going on?” 

Ruby cleared her throat a little. “We…may have been…with Gold…”

“Been with?” She narrowed her eyes a little, but before she could ask for an explanation, both women bolted like she was wolf about to devour them. Huffing under her breath, she kept exploring, passing by a smug looking Mal, who had a necklace around her neck with what Belle could only identified as antler prongs. The three that were brown with golden markings made her blood boil, thought she didn’t quiet understand why. 

Eventually she heard a finally uneven beat of hooves against cement coming from one of the sleight storage barns. Walking around it, she found one of the doors was busted open. After a pause, she looked in, finding herself face to face to a bared teeth and narrowed brown eyes. She swallowed back a scream of surprise before calling out softly. “G-gold” 

His breathing was deep and labored, she noted, taking a step back to get a better look at him. His fur was matted with sweat and blood. His skin was covered in purples and red of bruises, and the dark maroon of caked blood from wounds. His face was no better, a dark black bruise shadowing his left eye. And his antlers, oh those beautiful antlers that added to the grace of his movement, they were cracked, several parts broken off. Belle took a deep breath to calm her heart and her racing mind, closing her eyes for a moment as she counted, missing the confuse and curious look of a dazed cervitaur. Opening them again, she took in the injuries, writing off a list inside her head on what she needed to take care of right now, and what could wait until she got him home. At second glace, the wounds were not that bad, nor as deep as she first thought, he suffer from as much bruising as any other male she had seen. He would whine, and refuse to bed-rest, but if she had to tied him to his bed, then so be it, but he was not in any immediate danger. She gave herself a moment to sigh in relief, Gold was still utterly curious about her, thought didn’t seem to be registering anything else. 

Looking around, she spotted two does sleeping in a large pile of canvas sheets. Squinting a bit, their features became a bit more recognizable in the dark storage room. White Rose and Rose Red, twins from one of the herds bordering Russia. All curl wavy fur and hair, one with hair a shade of light brown that border lined blonde, and the other with a deep chestnut coloring. They both shared the same deep blue eyes. Belle curled her lips slightly at them, they both seemed completely fine, plump and with not hair out place,  while their poor buck played sentry, servant and consort. 

Stopping herself from sneering out right at the sleeping women, she stepped up onto the sleight to be closer to closer to Gold’s eye level. “Come here, I want to check that eye.”

She couldn’t help but find it kind of cute how shy and cautious Gold became in a more feral state. He was looking between the does and her for a long moment before he finally took careful steps to her, the curiosity in his dazed eyes was gentle and wary. Belle opted to move her hands very slowly, caressing what little skin wasn’t bruised or cut until the cervitaur seemed to fully relax to her touch. He so rarely did this anymore, a little voice inside her head spoke up, not like he used to. The last few months, he had been tense and high strung every time she came near him more then absolutely necessary. She could only pin point one night in which she couldn’t account for her behavior, after Abigail’s bachelorrete party…Belle still had no idea what she could had possibly said to him to lead to such long-standing reaction. 

She moved her fingers to caress the other’s hair, it was oily with sweat, but she manage to get her fingers though it and make it lie down, rather then frazzle. Her petting elicited a deep rumbling from the other’s chest and she laughed softly. “Oh Gold, are you purring for me?” 

He gave her a crooked smile that took away some years from his face, giving him an almost carefree look to him she never seen before, not even directed to his only son. Giving a little smile back, she carefully checked that both his eyes were okay. Thankfully, they were, there was no damage she could see and- why were they getting closer? Belle only manage a little squeak before her mouth was covered by his. The kiss was suffocatingly long, possessive and hungry, and he didn’t let go until she dug her fingers into one of his cuts. 

He backed away from her, snorting and bristling, but looking somewhat ashamed of his actions. Belle gave him a look before taking his hand, trying very hard to think about the kiss as she pulled him along to follow her. Gold didn’t even spare a look back towards the twins as he almost skipped after her. By the time they reached where her snowmobile was parked, the cervitaur seemed more like himself, his gait certainly becoming more serious, and his grip on her hand more firm. 

Sparing a look behind her, he seemed mostly himself, thought every once in a while, he would display his broken rack to certain bucks they walked pass, and his grip would tighten. It was more protective then possessive thought. Upon coming to her vehicle, Belle paused to think. She hadn’t spare much thought to actually bring a cart along to tow Gold back, but seeing how the fresh air seemed to be waking him more and more. She decided that they would just hike the rest of the way to Gold’s home. She needed time to think, anyways. 

———

“Twins?” Graham couldn’t help the astonishment showing in his voice, he got glares from both Baelfire and Belle, thought he couldn’t understand why Belle was glaring at him. 

“Could we not?” Baelfire tugged at his own ears. “I don’t need to hear about my father’s sex life. My father shouldn’t have a sex life”

Gold snorted before he let out a strangled whine as Belle cleaned out another one of his cuts a little rougher then she perhaps had meant to. “Its my sex life that lead to you being here.”

“Nope, no, I refuse to believe that. I was created by pure magic.”

“Bae” Graham gave him a look, but the faun had his fingers inside his ears. 

“Lalalalalalala, I am magic baby, that’s all, lalalalalalalala”

“You are being ridicules” 

“Caaaan’t hear you” He sang loudly. 

“Let it be, Graham, he is convince I am a virgin or something.” Gold smirked, having no intention of telling Graham what he had done to his sister, Ruby. He hissed under his breath and glaring down at Belle. “Could you not?”

“If you would stop moving” She glared back at him. 

“I wasn’t moving!” 

“Were too!”

“Was not!”

“Were too!”

Graham looked from the still singing Baelfire, to the arguing handler and cervitaur. Somedays he wonder if Bae was really worth getting mix up with this family. 


	8. Tidbits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small short ficlets that were requested. They are complete unrelated from one another.

Belle watched Gold take another sip of his coffee, the cervitaur was quiet, reading up on some letter he had received. She look down to her own untouched mug, a little mischievous smile was smothered away as she turned back to him. “I have a confession to make…”

“Hmmm?” Gold barely pricked an ear towards her, but she could see that his attention was on her. 

Seeing him take another sip of coffee, she spoke. “I hate coffee”

The cervitaur was reduce to a series of chocking coughs as he fiddle with his cup, trying to control his shaking body enough to put it down. He stared at her with wide eyes, his jaw was slack the moment his throat was clear. Belle had a hand covering hers as she tried to smother her laughter. “What do you mean you hate coffee? What planet are you from?!”

She lost it at that, starting to laugh hard, and barely keeping from falling off her chair. Gold stared at her as if she had lost her mind, but slowly the worry look turned into a glare. “I take it you were joking…”

She giggled, barely able to keep from thinking of the other’s disbelieving expression. “Mmm hmm” She took a deep breath. “Thought, I am not a big fan of coffee…”

Gold rolled his eyes, murmuring under his breath, she only manage to hear ‘unrefined palate’.

\----

Gold watched Belle do the oddest dance he had seen a human do. She was twisting herself around, arms behind her back, clawing at the back of her sweater as she arched and contort her body in ways that made him feel…funny. Specially when she trusted her chest out like that. 

Finally Belle let out a huff and walked up to him. “Head, down!”

Gold’s ears pulled back and he quickly bowed his head, not daring to do otherwise. He made a soft little squeak when he realize Belle was rubbing her back against the prongs of his antlers, and that her rear end was bouncing up and down just a little distance from his body. Good lords, this woman would be the death of him. 

\----

To get someone his size drunk was an achievement in of itself, but the added reward was a giggling bubbly Gold, who had a hard time keeping his mouth shut. 

Belle found him to be just plain cute, having a bit of pronounce swag to his steps, and more tactile then usual. He barely could pull himself away from hugging her, to the point she had to stand on the couch for a proper hug, or have his hands all over her chest all night. It didn’t help much, but he seemed more interested with her hips when she was closer to eye-level with him. 

Bae, on the other hand, was less thrill about his father’s current state. He stood most of his time by him with a tray of brownies, to simply stuff them down the older cervitaur’s mouth whenever he started one of his ‘when Bae was five…’ stories. Also, the brownies were being stuffed down Graham’s throat, who wouldn’t stop asking for said stories!

Graham was just plain thrill by Rum, he never seen his team leader so loose before. Jefferson tied several ribbons all over Rum’s legs and antlers while Victor was off finding a camera or video camera.

\----

He was talking in his sleep again. Belle put down the mug of coffee on the nightstand and sighed, picking her way though the pile of pillows and blankets the old cervitaur deemed a bed. 

“Belle….” He murmured, his voice lower then usual, heavy with sleep as he burried his face on the large pillow he was hugging close to his chest. “Belle…”

The handler shook her head. Not that bell dream again. She was really starting to wonder if some idiot handler had traumatize her charge as a fawn with the damned jingling things. 

\----

Third time in two weeks. THIRD TIME. She was sure that Victor and Jefferson were tangling Gold on purpose. There was no other explanation as to why the the elder cervitaur had become ten times clumsier when trying to get out of his harness. 

She gently ran her hands over his furcoat, whispering little words of reassurance as she started to work out the knots and buckles. Gold was very jumpy and almost hype-aware of everything when immobilize by the tangled leather, but under her caressing fingers, he seemed to almost forget it all together. 

\----

Gold didn’t care for having elves on his back, his leg was bad enough as it was, but he certainly wasn’t about to let Belle walk with a twisted ankle. He tried to ignore how she clung to his waist, laying her whole body against his back. Or how her fingers massage into his his furcoat, relieving some of the mounting pain. 


	9. Not a Cervitaur’s best friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Belle and Fredrick are elves and handlers, Bae is a faun(and a handler). Gracie is an elf

 

He should had seen the hit coming, really, not matter how many times Charming had chased him off during the season, he should had known that the man would want to actually beat him up once they were all back in their right minds. He stumbled back, groaning, touching gingerly the already forming bruise on his jaw line.  “Alright, I deserve that one…”

Seeing Charming getting ready to charge at him, Gold snapped his fingers, freezing the other’s legs to the ground. “You’ll only get one, Graham only got one and I went after his sister, which is much bigger offense.”  He turned to call out for Belle, when he came face to face with glaring Archie, the man’s face was red as his hair and he was holding an umbrella in such way that suggestive he was going to use it as a weapon. “…No.”

“What?” Hopper was startled out of the menacing look he had been working on for the last hour.

“I said no.” His eyes narrowed into a glare. “You have no business glaring, mopping, or whining for anything I done to Ruby. If its anyone’s fault, its yours.” He stepped forward, making the ginger cervitaur step back. “You are the one who leaves every year, you are the one who seems to have some odd idea that you are too old for her. You are the one coming up with excuses and issues for a relationship that hasn’t had even a chance to exist. So no, you don’t get to have some righteous little moment about me going after your doe when you are the one leaving her high and dry and wanting for the likes of me. So fock off!” He snapped his fingers, freezing the hooves of one Graham to the floor. “Not my fault, he brought up your sister!”

Gold turned to the rest of his team. “I don’t give a flying fuck about what you think about my behavior this last season.  You have an issue with it, get over it. And Jefferson, stop glaring at me, White Rose came after me, not the other way around!” He gave the younger buck same disbelieving look he was throwing back before taking a deep breath. “Now someone help Lance chip those two idiots out of the ice so we can get this trip done with and I‘ll be out of your hair for another week, okay!?”

They all stood frozen in place for a moment and Gold’s frowning lips gave slight twitch, that was enough to startled them back into action. The team leader shook  his head and stepped outside and onto the runway, in need of some fresh air. “Belle” He called out, without meaning to.

Ears perked up when he heard steps behind him and he turned around, but instead of a petite brunette, he came face to face to the cocky grin of a very annoying blonde, at least in Gold’s opinion. Turning his eyes upwards to the other’s mismatched gaze, he sighed. “What? What?!” He spoke with more force then he meant to, his team having left him with a shorter fuse then he wanted to admit. “What could you possibly want, Jareth?”

The blonde snorted, looking a little miffed by the tone the smaller buck took with him. “Nothing, I just came to tell you that…” He gave a dramatic pause, leaning closer until their noses were just inches apart. “I’m pregnant.”

All the color just drain from Gold’s face. It wasn’t until his eyelid started to twitch that Jareth burst out laughing, grabbing the other’s shoulders. “Woah, there. Calm down, don’t go having a heart attack.” He smiled too wide, trying to keep from laughing again. “Gold….Gold!”

“P…p…pp…p…p” 

“I am not pregnant, you idiot, I am a male…males don’t get pregnant.”  He kept a hold on him, Rum looking ready to collapse in relief.

“Don’t do that!” 

His restriction from laughing was crumbling a little, but Jareth still manage to keep form chuckling…too much. He gave a cocky smirk. “Oh, I couldn’t help it….besides if anyone would be pregnant from that it would be y-” He found a hand covering his mouth.

“Shush.” Rum removed his hand.

“But-”

“I said shush.”

———————————————————————————————————

 Getting rid of Jareth had taken trickery, or rather just throwing something shiny and glittery in the general direction of the blonde’s handler.  Rum went back to calling for his own handler, the slight desperation in his voice was not something he was proud, nor care to take notice of until he found the little brunette and pulled her away from her current task of disentangling harnesses. 

“Eh…! Wait…no!” Belle tried to keep her hands on her work, but was dragged to sit up on top of a box. “Gold, I am not a doll you can just…play..” The words died on her lips as her eyes landed on the bruising jaw line. “Charming got to you?”

“Mmm hmm…” He flinched when she tried to touch the spot, that only seemed to spur her further to grab the back of his neck and pulled him closer. Keeping himself from smiling, he let her take a closer look, stopping himself from wincing when her fingers ghost over the darker blue and sicky yellow spots on his face. 

“He didn’t knock one of your teeth out, did he?”

“No…”

“Alright, come on, I am sure the healer can have you all fix up before we have to leave.” She grabbed his hand, jumping off the box, but find the other as unmoving as a two ton statue. 

“No, that’s alright.” He pulled her back. “Just give me some aspirin.”

“Come on, you silly man, the healer will have it fix with a simple spell. No shots this time, I promise” He rolled his eyes at that remark, keeping himself from grinning back at the bright smile Belle had on her face.

“I’ll be fine.” He chuckled. “Besides, I found out form an early age, that bullies are less likely to hit you again if you keep the wounds on you.” Gold mentally cursed when he saw Belle’s eyes widen. He had not meant to said that out loud.

“What?!” Belle was ready to go give his whole team a piece of her mind, and that wouldn’t do either.

“Belle, calm down…” He gather her up in his arms, pressing her back against him, her arms and legs wiggling in an effort to get away. “Easy, dearie. I didn’t mean to say that they are bullies. I mean, Charming believes I overstep my boundaries with his wife….”

“Which you did…” Belle slacked a bit as her self-righteousness died down.

“That’s debatable.“ He grinned when a little chuckled rippled through her, vibrating against his chest. “None the less, his ego is hurt. If I go and get this heal, it will just make relations with him worse. Specially if Snow happens to end up pregnant with my kid. Same with Graham, remember how I didn‘t let you heal that kick he gave me? It still hurts like hell, by the way.” 

“The aspirins must have had wore off…” She relaxed against his arms. “I’ll get the bottle.” And with that gentle command, he let her go, leaving behind her peachy perfume all over his coat.

——————————————

Arriving and landing at their destination was met with no difficulty, thanks to the snow covering the runway and the lack of Henry involvement. The boy had to stay behind at the North Pole for neglecting to learn a spell Rum had specifically needed to learn.  The small victory of the landing soon died down when they heard the hitch line that ran between them unhitch from the sled. Rum turned to looked back at Belle, but the handler seemed just as confuse as they were, and even more so when the sled started to move backwards towards an open hangar. 

Before they could protest, every single team member became very still at the sound of a bark. Their ears perked up, and when a second high pitched bark made them start moving as their prey instinct kicked in. Jefferson nearly toppled Victor over when a blur of black fur ran pass him. Their harnesses still attaching them to each other as they were startled and forced to move by knee-high barking furballs. While most of them seemed more then willing to move the way the canines were directing them, if only it meant for the barking to stop, Graham was nearly dragged by the rest of the team, the tail-end member seemed more interested in the dogs then doing what they were trained to make him do. 

The barks were not enough to send them into flight or fight instinct, but enough to make them slightly panic ever time each creature barked. They were irritating Gold more then anything, he looked ready to muzzled them, but like Graham, he was being dragged along with the rest of the team until they found themselves inside a large barn. The dogs ran out and the doors were closed, locked from the outside. 

Growling, Rum unhook his harness from the hitch line and went to the door, pushing to open it but suddenly hearing bells going off. Giving a disgruntled grunt, he moved away from the noise, feeling disoriented by it. 

“Hay on the floor, a barrel of water with no cups, and a couple of feeding pails full of apples…” Jefferson spoke up with slight disgust in his voice. 

“There is a window up there…” Lance pointed out quickly, trying to keep the rest of the team from throwing a tantrum in the small space.

Charming narrow his eyes as he looked between the window and Rum a few times. “Maybe we can get Gold through it.”

“I am not that small, you imbecile.” 

The blonde just gave a dismissing wave, looking around. “There is a few planks here, Jefferson and Victor around the same height, so we can set them up on their backs and have you try to get through that window…”

“Yes, and then I’ll break my neck…“

“You’ll be fine, we won’t let you fall.“

Rum looked towards his teammate for a moment. “….Remind me again why I don’t do an IQ test before letting people on my team…” Charming glared at him and he could only give a little smirk back. Watching him go back to picking up planks, the team leader sighed. “Fine, you go do that and I’ll just be over there…” He took a few steps as if he was climbing an invisible staircase, until he was all the way up to the small window at the top of half of the barn. 

Charming dropped the planks. “Alright…who else forgot that he could fly…” He was mentally thankful that Killian, Hopper, Lance and Graham all raised their hands. Jefferson and Victor, on the other hand, were just smirking, damn magicals.

“What do you see?”

“Besides the fact that I really do need to test the intelligence of my team?” He flew a little higher to dodge the apples from the non-magical team members. Giving one last smirk, he looked out the window. “…Not much…mostly trees, dogs, snow…..and…oh, a couple of cervitaurs” He perked and open his mouth again to call out, but scent hit him. “…everyone plug your noses….”

“What?” Jefferson stared up at him. “What did you do?”

“What are you, five?” Rum glared. “There is a couple of does out there.” A sea of confuse looks stared back at him. “They are in heat, you idiots.”

“They must of have heard that we have a slut in here.” Killian arched an eyebrow before wincing when both Jefferson and Victor elbowed him on the ribs at the same time. 

“Yes, well, your reputation does follow you everywhere, doesn’t it Killian.” Gold responded distractively as he continuo to watch out the window before ducking back down to the ground. “This is ridicules, they have us caged so we won’t run after their females. I appreciate the consideration, but they could have just asked.” 

“You would had walked willingly into a dark and cold barn?” A light voice called out, a definetly female voice. The cervitaurs turned to see Belle and Fredrick peeking into the barn, both smiling. Rum stayed back as the rest of his team crowded over the two handlers, but he couldn’t help the little self-satisfying smirk when Belle squirm her way through the others and came up to him to make sure he was alright. 

His little joy was quickly snuffed out when he notice that his handler was holding a wriggling puppy in her arms. “What…is…that..”

“A Finland Lapphund” Belle’s smile widen. “They are reindeer herders!”

“Yes, I notice…got a bit of a demonstration just a bit ago….” His eyes narrow. “Why do you have one?”

“Oh, the handlers here use them to keep their cervitaur herd away from places they shouldn’t be instead of bells, so I thought why not get a couple of the greenhouses back home. They are much friendlier then having a bunch of bells around.” She giggled when the puppy started licking her chin. 

“Uh huh…did you named this thing?”

“ _She_  is not a thing, Gold, and yes, I have.” So she was already attached to the furball.

“ _She_  isn’t staying in  _my_  house.”

“Teacup is just a puppy, I can’t just dump her in a greenhouse.”

“Then give her to Graham, I am sure he’ll be thrill.” Rum didn’t like the smirk on her face.

“We already got him one,” At that, they heard Graham let out one of the most unmanly happy squeaks everyone in the barn ever heard. “…and Fredrick got one for little Gracie and Henry to play with and learn to look after. Teacup is all mine”

“I thought these dogs were for the greenhouses.” He gave her a suspicious look.

“The two adults we are taking are. The puppies we just couldn’t resist.” She could see she wasn’t winning any points right now. “How about a deal?” She saw one of his ear gave a twitch and knew she had him. Wiggling her finger for him to bend down, Rum gave the puppy a cautious look before bending down to listen to her. “Let me keep the dog and I’ll…” She whispered softly into his ear, specially when she notice a bunch of cervitaurs straining their own ears to hear what she was proposing. 

His eyes widen and he whipped his head away from her. “What in the seven levels of hell would make you think I want  _that_?”

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Fine, how about this instead, let me keep Teacup and I’ll let you have a cup of decaffeinated coffee every single day.”

“Without taking away the coffee I do get every other day?”

“Without taking that away.” She smiled.

“….and I don’t have to do anything for that thing? No walking, brushing or picking after it?”

“You won’t have to do anything with  _her_  that you don’t want to.” Belle stressed the female pronoun.

Seeing that he touch a nerve, he put out his hand. “Fine, we have a deal then.”

Belle shook his hand and turned back towards the puppy, already babbling away at her in baby talk, tweaking her puppy ears, before distractingly telling them that the sled was all loaded up as she walked off to put the puppy in the carrier with the others. Rum’s eyes narrow for a moment, before he realize that he was feeling jealousy over a dog getting Belle’s attention. Motioning his team to get ready, he rubbed his forehead, trying to relieve some of the already forming headache, missing the odd look a certain hat-wearing cervitaur and his roommate were giving him. 


	10. Sunday Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Sexual content. Dub-con, I guess. Although its feeding off Belle’s feelings and dream…
> 
> Belle is an elf/human
> 
> Gold is a cervitaur(reindeer centaur)
> 
> Teacup is a puppy!

****

Sundays were for sleeping in, or at the very least, not leaving bed until noon. It was an unspoken agreement between them. Not matter what Belle made sure nothing was schedule for Rum on Sundays, and in turned, Rum made sure that if Bae thought of dropping by, that it was at least sometime in the afternoon. The rest of the herd knew he would destroy them if they bother him at home. They didn’t bother each other, they didn’t even leave their beds. They slept, read, or do some relaxing and quiet activity in the solitude of their rooms.

 

Rum’s irritation, therefore, was completely justified when a small little puppy came barreling down into this room to bother him. Teacup obviously didn’t understand what lazy Sunday mornings were for, all she cared for was to try to chew on his hooves instead of her toys. He contemplated bothering Belle to rid himself of the small canine, but so far, he hadn’t heard the tell-tale wood creaking from her quick rushing from her bookcase, and then back to her warm bed. Not that he listen for it. 

 

A little yip broke him away from his musings, and he had the good sense to not kick the pup.  Perhaps if he fed her, she would stop making all those annoying little noises. That seemed Teacup’s pattern, eat, go potty in a make-shift doggy litter box in the laundry room, and then nap for a whole hour after which her first activity would get under hoof and get him berated by Belle for not looking where he was going. 

 

This was not a pattern he cared for, but locking her(Teacup OR Belle) in the bathroom was apparently a big ‘no-no’. 

 

With as light hoof as he could, he went down to the kitchen, followed closely by the clicking of puppy nails upon the wooden floor. He had never been more glad for the area rugs on the living room. When Teacup tried to run for her actually toys, he snapped his fingers, making them all float out of the puppy’s reach. He quickly selected out the squeaking ones and let the plush toys fall back onto the puppy. Teacup gave a little growl where a plushie apple hit her head. 

 

He smirked, putting the squeaky toys away, and walked into the kitchen. Pausing for a moment, he realized he had no idea where the little cretin’s food was stored. It had to been on the cupboards above the counter, since Teacup had revealed a knack for getting her greedy little muzzle into any food in the lower store space. A little investigation revealed that Belle had decided the safest place for Teacup’s food….was on the highest shelf in right-most cupboard. He’ll have to speak with her on the sense of doing that when she obviously will need to get on a chair twice a day to get it. 

 

Getting up on his back legs, he took the plastic container out. He was about to look down to make sure he didn’t crush the pup when he spotted something further back in the cupboard. He rest the container on a lower shelf and picked up the item of his curiosity. A can of his favorite coffee. “Well, well, well….”

 

He fed the dog and went on to contemplate his little prize. It was a full can, high caffeine and smooth. If he kept to the kitchen, he would be able to get a couple of pots in him before the coffee’s scent reached Belle. A smirk spread across his face. 

 

———————-

 

Belle gave a little groan as her eyes fluttered open and then shut to keep the light out. Her mind was fuzzy and the images of her last dream were quickly fleeing back to her subconscious. Rolling onto her back, she tried to recall, but all that came back was sweat matted fur. She felt warm, much warmer then usual, and rolling onto her back, she suddenly realize why. One hand snuck down to check, and sure enough, her fingers were wet, sliding easily in her. Whatever dream she had been having, a little voice in the back of her mind told her she had woken up too soon. 

 

 She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and finding a comforting scent of firewood and coffee around her. Trying to recall the dream while pulling the covers down with her feet, her fingers moved slowly, teasing herself into a lazy climax, when she suddenly gasped in surprise twinge of pain on her nipple. Like someone had pinched her.  Her eyes snapped open at the second pinch, but she found herself alone in her room, sun light just hanging in the air and….wait. Wait, it was the middle of winter in the north pole, yet her room looked like it was lit up by the sun. She suddenly notice the way it shifted and curled, how different shades warped around, spinning into each other, crushing and crumbling into goldish dust that fell on her, warming, tickling, pinching. Suddenly alert of her awareness, bold at her responsiveness. Little sparks of golden electricity rushing over her body, under her clothes. They pinched every inch of her skin, and sooth away the sting with smooth little fingers covered in cool scales. Those fingers moved down her body and into her, lapping at her like tongues as Belle bit her lower lip to keep from crying out in pleasure. 

 

The crackling magic envelop her, overloading every sense and engaging each sensitive spot all at once. It filled her and whispered in her ears in such familiar voice, calling her name over and over. She didn’t last, she couldn’t last. Her voice rang out in a ecstasy filled scream, but it sounded odd and unlike her. She went slacked onto the bed, her muscles having tense and arched her moments ago. She mewled under her breath, shivering, even thought her night gown was sticking to her in place with her sweat. 

 

Panting, her mind felt muddle and sluggish, but became alert quickly at a sudden crash  in the floor below, although she couldn’t tell if it was seconds or hours after her climax. She turned on the lights, the golden light having diminish quiet a bit by then. With one hand on the night stand, she tried to get up and found her legs feeling like jelly, but after a few tumbling steps, she found herself walking almost perfectly fine but for a few shaking steps. She pulled her robe on, closing it tightly and stepped out of her room, blushing as she noted that her door had been ajar. 

 

Belle was glad to see Rum was nowhere in the first floor and walked down stairs, trying to fix her mess of curls. “Sorry about that! I fell out of…bed…?” 

 

She stared at the cervitaur, who seemed completely unaware of her presence and very much taken up with the fact that his arms and all four legs were tangled in yarn. All the little knick-knacks in the room had been rearranged…into an army against all of Teacup’s toys. The puppy herself was victoriously laying on the tangled cervitaur’s back. The couch had been turned upside-down with the cushions in some kind of fort. There were mugs all over the tables, and peeking into one, she saw the residue of coffee. She noted the whole room was lit up with the same golden light and saw that Gold’s antlers were glowing, trying to burn the excessive caffeinated energy by expelling out magic into the air.

 

Belle walked over, careful to not stepped on anything sharp, and shoo Teacup off the tangled man. “What happen?”

 

Wild brown eyes stared at her, and childishly soft voice, he responded. “ I tried to knit.”


	11. Chapter 11

All the handlers had notice the markers that the cervitaurs carried. They didn’t bother to investigated much further, after all, a lesser handler would tell you cervitaurs were simple and sheep-like that will follow fads, if one of them had something new, then the others must also have it. A more experience handler would tell you that the cervitaurs were clever, inventive, and always up to one new game or another. The adults’ even more so.

No, none of the handlers were much interested. 

 

Until they found Bae uncontrolling laughing while staring at a house’s blank wall.  After checking he wasn’t on anything alarming, the faun refuse to say anything, and so a few handlers that look after fawns manage to confiscate a couple of markers. 

 

They were all UV markers.

 

It didn’t take long to order a few uv lights, and then they saw it. All the buildings were cover in scribbles, graffiti, drawings, dirty limericks and even quiet a few choice words about certain handlers or team leaders. For the most part, it was harmless fun, it seemed, although they would have to scold the cervitaurs for the dirty words and having to clean them off. Yes, harmless fun….and then someone shone the UV light on a handler….

 

——

"Well?" Belle pointed at her forehead patiently.

 

Gold looked at her confuse, licking his lips nervously while he search for an answer. “If you are getting a zit, I can’t see it, dearie."

 

She sighed and grabbed a UV lamp, pointing to her forehead. “Hmmm?"

 

"Oh..um…Y-y-you don’t think _I_  did  _that_?" He gave a shaky smile, hoping, really, really hoping, that she hadn’t found the one on her back that said ‘ _if you can see this, then you are a dead deer_ ’.


	12. The Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Belle and Blue are elf/human, Baelfire is a faun
> 
> Gold and Killian are cervitaurs(reindeer centaur)
> 
> Teacup is a puppy!

They had a lot of games, but one was always there. It was simple and quickly learned. 

Snatch something precious and run like the wolves were at your heels. The game didn’t end until an ear or an antler, maybe even a  tail, was tug, and the item was return, safe and sound. A simple game, a doll or a toy, a favorite treat. It was easy to see how as they grew up, they continuo to play it, because it was just a game. The handlers rarely minded being snatched away from a conversation or a task, and their cervitaurs always came after, ready to tackle and take back, and laughter all about. 

It was just a simple game. A fun game.

 

This wasn’t a game.

Belle was missing, stolen from her bed in the middle of the night, and Gold was blaming and cursing himself for his lack of vigilance. Every time life handed him something precious, it was quick to yank it away, or break it beyond repair, by his own hand or fate’s. He shouldn’t had left his guard down and now Belle would pay the price for his negligence. 

There was no magical signature, and no scent to follow, whoever had taken her away had set fire to her room. Gold found himself staring at it often in the days of her disappearance when he was force back to his home after hours of searching. He had manage to contain the fire, but there was an ugly black scar where her bed should be, and stacks of half eaten books. He found himself smiling a bit as he thought of Belle’s fury whenever something happen to one of her precious books, but the mirth didn’t last. 

Thankfully Teacup was taken away by Baelfire, and the faun promise to keep a paranoid caution of everything until Belle was found. As much as his boy liked to joke, he understood the severity of this. 

Two days have gone by since she disappeared, and if this continuo, Gold knew suspicion and blame would be lay at his hooves, not that the handlers and the herd haven’t been spreading vicious rumors already. Apparently the most popular one, according to his son, was that he had murder Belle with a cup of tea. A dark part of him wonder why no one mention what kind of tea.

Probably something bitter and badly brewed. He was crap at making tea, Belle wasn’t shy to tell him so.

He found his thoughts to be chaotic lately, going from feeling sorry for himself to worrying, to angry, to wondering what new rumor would reach his ears. He was exhausted, looking for her and his magic failed him. His spells could only guide him so far, and while Belle had lived with him for almost entire year now, none of the items she had brought with her were enough to take him all the way. She had decided to start a new collections of books upon moving in, and her clothes held very little of her self. The only piece of jewelry that would had worked was her mother’s necklace, and she wore it night and day. Her father was being unreasonable by barring form using any of her childhood things…

He couldn’t very well sacrifice Teacup, the woman would have his head.

Exhaustion was taking its toll, but as he heard the chime of the grandfather clock in his living room and the second day of Belle’s disappearance gave away to the third, he knew sleep was not on the table.

——

Killian had a good poker face, he had a flair for the theater and was quiet the actor when he put his mind into it, but the mask of indifference, of slight worry, and discontent of being grounded(with Belle’s disappearance, all flights, lessons or otherwise, had been cancelled) was slipping away to his usual smirks and his pride. Gold spotted it, or perhaps he had began to see things from the lack of sleep and drain of his magic. Either way, the roar that escaped his lungs sent the herd skittering to hide from his rage and Killian bolting like a fawn with wolves bearing down on it. 

The handlers didn’t have a second to react, the smaller cervitaur chasing the darker one. They had barely clear the village by a mile before Rum took flight and dive bombed him, sending them both sprawling in the otherwise pristine snow. 

“Where is she?!” He manage to catch the hook before it came in contact with his body, but not the fist that follow. He sputtered uselessly for a moment, giving the dark cervitaur to get back on his hooves.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” At least that’s what he tried to say, he didn’t get much further then ‘idea’ when gold decorated broken antlers ram into his chest. No other words were spoken as they descended into their most primal instincts to destroy each other. The fight went beyond Belle’s disappearance, this fight was long time coming, pass even Bae’s incident, and Milha’s leaving. It went down to something in their cores and they blindly went to fighting. 

They both had their own weapons at their disposal, and yet, they found themselves tearing each other apart with their horns and hooves. Using their very teeth to draw out blood, tainting the snow as they trashed each other. 

It wasn’t until they broke out into a fist fight that the end came. A hook that had been used to scratch and deflect suddenly sank into Rum’s shoulder and suddenly his magic flair forward, warping the metal until it snapped at the base, and hitting Killian with the force of a speeding train, knocking the large male off his hooves and down to the ground. 

Golden glowing eyes narrowed as he stepped to the downed cervitaur. Wrapping a cruel hand around a broken black antler, he pulled the other’s head  upwards to face him. His magic crackled like lighting around him in his fury, but met with blue eyes that could barely open, Gold found a moment a clarity and summon a curse to his fingers. Licking green flames his fingers, irritating the wounds in his hand, his blood dripped onto the snow, turning to gold before it hit it. Midas’ curse, he heard it was agony to be slowly turned to gold.

“Where. Is. She?” He snarled, holding the black magic near the other’s face. Blue eyes darted around, pupils still just two little pinpricks, whatever was battling inside Killian, self-preservation seemed to won out and he sang. 

The screaming that followed him as he ran towards Belle’s location was something that would haunt his dreams ever so sweetly.

—————————————

The place was under a glamour, because honestly, mortal humans did not need to wonder how a German World War II warship had ended up that far North in the Artic Circle. 

Rum still recalled the night him and bunch of other magicals had gotten wasted and thought of the great idea to steal the ship in the middle of the humans’ war. Needless to say, the handlers were piss off, as was Santa…and the Germans were just plain furious…and confuse. Far as he knew, the ship was reported as sunk, even thought it hadn’t even had a maiden voyage. 

Even knowing that there was no danger in it, the echoing of his hooves clanking against the cold metal floors made his skin crawl. The whole thing was at an angle, or perhaps was blood loss starting to affect him, either way, he found his steps careful and shaky as he called forth his magic. Weaving gold strands spread through the hallways, skittering away from him like mice as they searched out for another living being. 

As he waited, he tried to throw his mind’s eye back into the past few days, trying to recall if Killian had disappeared at any moment. His frantic searching for Belle made it impossible for him to say. He snarled under his breath, pausing his emotions to let relief flow when he saw the strands faded away but for one. 

She was alive, or at least something in this forsaken place was alive. 

If asked how he got to her, he wouldn’t be able to answer. Unable to recall how he was able to move through the hallways meant for humans, and yet he knew he had ran, with his heart at his throat. 

The door held a dull glow for a moment before he started to work on unlock it, his fingers felt numb as he pulled the weight off it aside. The hinges whining loudly, but he couldn’t pay attention to that when Belle came flying at him with a blade. 

She gasped in surprise, her hands covering her mouth as realization came to her startling blue eyes. “Gold!” She stammer and stuttered an apology, but he just smile slightly, his eyes roaming over her form as she fussed over the knife now imbedded in his arm. Nearly three days without food left her thinner, and he could see the beginnings of rope burns peeking from under her long sleeves. A golden chain of her mother’s had a companion, a pendant of a glowing stone held about her neck in twine. 

He could feel the magic radiating warmth, keeping the artic cold away from her. He peeked for a moment away from her and to her little cell, seeing the remnants of her ropes, and dog dish filled with water. He frown, sure that if he tipped it over, it would spill enough water until the ship was flooded. 

“Belle” He murmured, snapping her out of her frantic need to remove the weapon. Exhaustion was clear on both of them, but he wrapped what was reminding of his shirt and scarf around her, not trusting the magic in the pendant to hold up the trip back. Convincing her to leave the blade and hook digging into him alone was a problem, but a small spell of sleep was enough to do her wonders. He would get yell at for it, but it made the trip back to the village 

——-

Baelfire sighed as he watched a nurse run by him, crying. Leaving those two for more then a second was just not allowed. Entering the room, he watched as his father fussed at his new bandages and Belle tried to keep him from picking at them while trying to loosen her own. 

“Well…aren’t you a pair of lovely mummies.” Baelfire smirked at the twin growls he got as a response. “Belle, you are spending too much time with my papa” He tapped her nose, watching her wrinkle it. 

“I am not.” 

“Then don’t act like a grouch, they want you to stop scratching the rope burns, that’s why you are all bandage up.” He took out a book, waving it at her. “Maybe this will distract you?” 

Belle desperately made a grab for it, as the hospital’s book collection seemed to deplorable in her words. “Give me!!!” 

Giving up the book to the desperate bibliophiliac, he would be glad when both of them would be released from the hospital’s clutches in a few days. Bae looked at his father, who was watching Belle fondly before brown eyes turned sharply on him. “Well?”

“Well what?” He grinned.

“Don’t play with me, boy.”

“Oh fine….be no fun.” Bae stuck his tongue out. “I talked to her, and you are still suspended for at least a month.” Blue, the head officer of the Cervitaur and Handler programs, was…well, a bitch. That was the unanimous agreed sentiment of almost every handler and cervitaur in Santa’s flight teams.  “And so is Belle”

Said handler squeaked. “What? Why am I suspended?!”

“As she said, you may have suffer from trauma that you don’t know you have, and therefore your skills can come into question…”

“I went to that damn therapist! Creepy as he was, I passed!” 

Baelfire chuckled softly “Well…not suspended…more like you have to take remedial classes and your privileges are cut back a bit until you pass..” 

“That cow” Belle hid behind her book, continuo muttering away insults. 

Gold smirked and shook his head. “Alright, we know why she’s suspended, but why me? I thought I was the hero here” 

“…papa, you turned another cervitaur into a gold statue…” The screaming match between Belle and Rum had been legendary when she find out what he done to Killian. “It took us hours to get him back here…and its been days, and his back legs are still made of solid gold. We had to drug him out of his mind to stop the screaming.”

“He is alive, isn’t he?” 

“….I love how you miss the point…..You are lucky she is only grounding you for a month, she could had had you impression, grounded until the ended of your days in a little cell, or have you executed!”

“She doesn’t have that authority.”

“It didn’t stop her from trying!” Gold just shrugged.

“Argh!” Bae glared. “Just keep on your best behavior!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“…and less sarcasm”

“Of course, my dear baby boy.”

“You are impossible.”


	13. A morning delight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning Sexual acts and borderline bestiality
> 
> The writer was way too sober and not enough alcohol to be have been writing this.

With her room still destroyed, Belle had the potion of taking bed to Bae’s old bed, or the couch. She attempted to sleep in both, but found herself sleepless in both. While she knew Killian would be insane to try to take her again, she still couldn’t help the paranoid feeling that overtook her at night when the house was all too quiet. So it was to no one’s surprise when she had moved into Gold’s room, even thought the cervitaur made his best to protest, he didn’t actually lift a finger to push her out of his rooms. She knew he hadn’t been sleep well either, he had caught him sleeping standing up just a few feet from her a few times already. Even at the hospital, it had been a task to get him to go lay down just a few rooms away while the doctors or nurses attended to her.

In the last few days, she found herself more and more used to waking up with Gold’s arms and front legs wrapped tightly around her. There was a deep calmness she found herself in that embrace, her nose pressed against his neck, and her feet toying with the thick fur of his belly. Today was no different as she woke with one of his hands on her back, and the other entangled in her hair, his voice murmuring, chanting a word over and over, but she couldn’t make it up. She wrapped her arms around him and he seemed to settled back, going deeper into his own dreamland.

She wiggled a bit lower to rest her head against his chest and listen to the deep rush of his breath, and just lay there for quiet a while, just enjoying the warmth. It was too early to get up, and with both of them in suspension, they hardly needed to get up. Belle tilted her head, feeling something starting to push against the sole of her feet. It throb and had a sticky wetness to it. She knew very well what it was, as it had happen once before. Last time she had pretend to be asleep and watched Gold just panic, she dearly hoped that he didn’t think he had been quiet when he bolted out of the room and into the bathroom. His rant for an hour straight between moaning and self-shaming whining. It certainly hadn’t been a love revelation she would wish on anyone, but there it was.

She didn’t quiet know what to do with this information. He seemed conflicted by his feelings, and while she was interest, this was like the one rule the caretakers were to never, ever break. That, and get their cervitaurs killed. She shifted her foot slowly, rubbing the head of the cock and grinning a little when his hips thrust upwards. Well, she wasn’t a caretaker just now, was she? The suspension and all. Biting her lower lip as she felt the other’s magic cracking against her skin. It made her heart beat a little too fast, and her pajamas feel too warmth. But….Gold was awful jumping around her as it was, what if this made it worse?

A squeal of surprise escaped her, breaking her train of thought, as the other rolled onto his back, his legs stilled wrapped around her hips taking her along for the little ride until she was laying on top of him. She poked his chest a few times before sitting up a bit, nearly sliding down the reindeer chest, if it wasn’t for a certain body part working as a great stopper. A blush spread across her face as she reached back to pushed the cock away from her bottom. She yelped when he instantly bucked forward at her touch.

“Oh, that doesn’t go in there!” She muttered, and tried no to laugh at the half snore he let out. Straightening her legs, she looked between them at his cock and slowly sat back down, gently on top of it, leaving enough of it in front of her to stroke at her leisure. She mildly wonder how long it would take for Gold to wake up, as she slowly traced her fingers over the slit before pinching the head. She let out a startle yelp at the sheer force of the other’s bucking hips, it nearly throw her off. Settling herself once again, she felt muscles stirring and moving under the thick winter fur coat. Apparently it didn’t take much to wake him up, she looked up to see sleep-ridden eyes watching her with mild interest and confusion.

“This….” He muttered, his tongue still heavy with sleep and tasting like the dead. “Is…one of the more vivid dreams…”

“I am not a dream.” She grinned as she rested her hands between his front legs and leaned forward, his cock sliding between her legs.

“Of course this is a dream…” He pulled on one of her locks gently, playing with the bouncy curl before he leaned forward and took her chin, kissing her gently on the lips before whispering gently, their lips barely touching then. “You wouldn’t let me do that other wise…”

She hummed her agreement before grabbing the back of his head and pulling him into another kiss, biting on his lower lip. Pulling away, she tried to not laugh at the other’s deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. “Am I still a dream?”

“The best one yet…” He mumbled, still dazed. Belle laughed softly and kissed him again on the lips, over and over, quick little pecks until he broke from the lovely haze in his mind. His hands gather her closer, specially aiming to grabbing her rear to do so.

“What do we usually do in these dreams?” She flicked his nose when he pinched her. Perverted cervitaur was pulling down her pajama bottoms already.

“We attempt to have sex.”

“’Attempt‘?”

“I keep waking up before we actually get to. Quiet annoying, you are a bit of a tease.” Gold smirked as she chuckled against his chest. She twisted herself around, letting her back rest against his chest once her pants were fully off, her hands covering herself, but sliding down enough to hover above his cock. She could feel him vibrating with energy, muscles tight with want and restrain. Her head rested against his human abdomen, and she felt the growl rather then heard it. “You are still a tease…”

Reaching down to her shirt, he ripped the front open, and Belle felt she should be more upset about that, but honestly couldn’t care as she felt his magic swept over her body, pinching and teasing all her sensitive little spots at once. The sensation passed, leaving her panting softly as he reached to slowly tease her nipples with his fingers, gently circled them before pinching them, but his whole body stilled as his cock pressed against her, entering her slowly. They were both very quiet, their heavy pants were the only noise until he was inside her. They grew even quieter still, bodies tensed as they stared at each other, entirely surprise that it fit. Mind you, not the whole thing, but it did fit.

She reached upward after a moment, and stroke his jaw line, slowly guiding him into small kiss before she started to slowly moved her hips, thrusting herself onto him and watching every little movement. His hooves twitched, every muscles tensed to keep from doing any wrong move, his fingers traced her neck line, moving down to her breasts. He coped them, groping gently as his fingertips traced over her nipples, playing with them until they were firm. His eyes were dark and intense as he stared down at her, and whispered with his voice almost breaking. “Touch yourself.”

A shiver ran down her back, a trickle of something shooting through her spine as one of her hands covered his, her fingers tracing the same pattern as him. Her other hand reached down, touching the cock rocking slowly in and out of her. Their movements were slow and measure, gentle as if they thought the other was made of spun glass, and they came embarrassingly too soon in flurry of small moans and heavy pants.

They laid there basking in the heavy scented room for long time before Gold chuckled as Belle crawled ontop of him and lay down besides him. “So….not a dream?”

“No” She mumbled tiredly. “Hardly a dream.”

“What change your mind…?” He stared at the ceiling, stretching out of his legs a little.

“I had a mind to change?”

“You told me once you would never kiss me…”

“When was this?” She sat up, looking at him confuse.

“A while ago…you were drunk.” He tilted his head, blatantly staring at her still bared chest.

Belle let out a laugh, taking a deep breath to explain when they heard a loud knock through the house. Following by the front door and the loud call of “Papa? Belle? Are you two up yet?”

Exchanging horrified looks, they bolted towards the bathroom. Belle somehow getting there before a four-legged cervitaur, but then again, she wasn’t the one tangled in the bed sheets. Gold pounded on the door. “Belle let me in!”

“No! You are not the one cover in stuff!”

“I beg the difference, you minx!”

Later neither would give Baelfire a good answer as to why they were having a screaming match through the bathroom door. He certainly didn’t even bother to mention to the smell of sex in the bedroom, preferring to keep his sanity as intact as possible.


	14. Fawns

There was something rather hypnotic about watching Belle’s rear wiggle from side to side as she tried desperately to reach for some box in high shelve of the closet. It was so distracting that he had yet to ask what she was doing or offer help. Not that he usually would offer his help. Finally, after watching a third top hat fall on her, he decided to at least ask. “What are you doing, dearest?”

“I am trying to get this Christmas decorations down! It’s a week away and we don’t even have a tree!” She huffed, walking off to get the kitchen stool, little Teacup yipping at her heels, obviously thinking she was getting a treat.

The cervitaur frowned in confusion. “You want to decorate the house for a night which not only do I not celebrate, but have work?”

“Yes” She poked her head out of the kitchen. “And what do you mean you don’t celebrate?”

“It’s a child’s holiday, and I hardly a child.” He got up. “But fine, you want to decorate, then…” He reached up on the closet, smirking as Belle pouted, still holding the stool. “Here you go.”

With the box handed to her, he went back to lazing about on the couch and waited. A muffled noise of cardboard being unravel and a then a little disgruntled squeak. The handler was on him before he could count to ten. “What’s the meaning of this!” She held out a horribly painted tiny stone Christmas tree, decorations and all. It barely weight ten pounds and came up to an elf’s knee.

“That would be the only Christmas decoration I own for the last…oh…two decades?.” Gold chuckled when a pillow was thrown at him. “What?”

“How could you live here of all places and still own just this?! “ She frowned. “I can understand you being too old to celebrate, but Bae wasn’t a few years ago!”

“True…”

“Then?”

“Well….you see…Fawns are attracted to shiny things that smell like food.” He chuckled as he took the tree, placing it on the coffee table as a final insult. “After he tried to eat the Christmas tree for the third year in a row, I exchange it for this.”

“That seems rather cruel…”

“Not really…this is more a tree topper.” He smiled fondly at it. “The rest of the tree was made up of neat pyramid of presents he couldn’t touch until I got back from work. Now that was cruel.”

She laughed and he smiled gently at the sound. Her laughter was always good, not as great as hearing her moan, but it was good. He was tempted to grab her and drag her to the bedroom, or perhaps to a little fun in the bathroom under the shower….but of course, the fax machine had to go off. He gave it a dark look as his little handler skirted away to look at the papers being spat out. Of course, he was under instructions from not only Belle, but Bae as well, to NOT take an axe to the fax machine.

Well, they hadn’t said anything about a chainsaw, had they?

As he contemplated using the much quieter and more satisfying sledgehammer, Belle called his name a few times until she plucked a hair off his hindquarters. “Oww! What?!”

There was a suspicion in her eyes he wasn’t entirely sure he liked. “Do elders have some kind of fertility goddess power?”

He blinked once. Twice. “What?”

“You participate in one mating season, and this happens!“ A paper was shoved into his hand, showing the pregnancy rate of does this season. It apparently was double then usual.

He snorted. “Belle, I am hardly responsible for this.” He paused. “Well, I am somewhat responsible, but not in that way.” Her confusion was obvious so he continuo. “I requested several herds to send ambassadors to come visit. I may had not remember when mating season was, but I knew it was coming. The herd is large enough to prevent inbreeding for several generations, but it doesn’t hurt to inject a little new blood every once in a while. Your numbers are off scale because you elves forgot to account for the extra cervitaurs.” He pointed to the population number. “See? It only mentions our numbers, not the ones I invited over.”

“Oh” She frowned and walked over to the desk, writing a quick note before sending it to the other handlers.

“So these many does are pregnant? I am sure Dove will be thrill to have such a sizeable amount of births to look after.” He smirked a little, but notice Belle was hardly paying him much attention, perusing some other paper from the fax machine. “What’s that?”

“Oh nothing….How many does did you mated with?“

Rum frowned, wondering if this was a trick question of some sort. “…I can’t really recall…“

“Guess.“

“About seven?“

“Oh…funny…this paper says that about ten does are claiming their soon to be born fawns are yours.”

THUMP!

Belle looked down at the fainted cervitaur and rolled her eyes. “Good thing I didn’t tell him it was actually fifteen…” She went to get a very cold bucket of water.


	15. Exams

Belle sat quietly in a very uncomfortable school desk, fiddling with her pencil as she waited quietly for a twittering Nova to get all her papers together. She actually enjoy the clumsy handler’s company quiet a bit, and thank her lucky stars that the girl was giving her handler exams rather then Blue. She still couldn’t believe she had to retake her exams before being officially a handler again. Somewhere in her head, there was a little voice that sounded much to much like Gold, saying that the old witch probably wanted her to fail. While she wasn’t incline to believe Gold’s insane paranoia, it did seem a bit suspicious.

But Blue couldn’t know about Gold’s deal for Henry’s apprenticeship, and even if she did, why would she want to stop Gold’s training of the boy? Belle rubbed at her forehead, perhaps the old cervitaur’s paranoia and rants were getting to her. Blue wasn’t some ultimate evil, she was just a shitheaded toad, as Bae like to pronounce her. Belle worked quickly to put away the slight smile that thought put on her face and looked up to see what Nova was doing now. She was surprise to find her just waiting and looking at the clock. “Are we waiting for someone?”

“Um, yes.”

“Who-” The door slammed open, making them both jumped and scream. They both stared as Baelfire’s eyebrows twitched in the same manner his father’s did when he was unamused.

“Sorry, I am late. Got caught in something…”

“Bae, what are you doing?” She stared as the deer faun sat in the school desk next to hers, her nose twitched a little. “You smell funny….”

“I don’t comment on how you smell…” He tilted his head with a meaningfull look before softening his eyes with mischief. “I may have called a certain head handler many, many names when she attempted to keep papa from flying on Christmas’ Eve last week. So I have to retake my tests.”

“Wha…Can she do that?!”

“Well, she can’t fire or suspend me, so I guess this is as far as her power takes her. Unless she wants to transfer me, but she can’t, since Graham has absolutely no complaints about my treatment. So she is making me waste what could had been a lovely afternoon.”

Before they could continuo talking, the little handler at the front of the class did the best to clear her throat, although it came out more like a soft pitched squeak. It did take their attention, none the less, and a test was handed to each of them. They were questions based on the many handler classes and that one single guidebook they had to know by memory. There was only one right answer and that was by the handbook.

Anything else was incorrect, regardless if you were right.

Belle mildly recalled failing her exams twice before she could become a handler for the first time. Bae only recall the screaming match between him and the head handler about his score, specially pointing out that he had been raised a cervitaur and he sure as hell didn’t need a test to tell him how to handle his own kin.

With twin sighs, they both dived into their corresponding tests.

They both read ‘ _Question 1: How would you safely removed a harness from a panicking cervitaur who has become tangled in it?_ ’

Belle would had liked to write out a lenghtly answer that it depended on the temperamental and personality of the cervitaur, there were many ways to calm them down to safely remove the offending equipment, however, she resign herself to writing out the spell to summon a bell around a cervitaur’s neck, which make them immobile long enough to take the harness off.

Bae wrote out how he would just pull his tail up in a lovely display of his backside that any cervitaur worth their horns would stare at long enough for him to take the gear off.

And so went on for another dozen questions with Belle stopping herself from writing the correct way to handle cervitaurs with humane and proper ways instead of handle book’s minimalist animal-like ways, and Bae showing his through knowledge for the perverted ways of the herds’ workings. It wasn’t until the last question that they both seemed to pause to think.

 _‘Question 14: What is a handler to do if a cervitaur shows any inappropriate behavior towards said handler, such as touching in inappropriate places, aggressive jealous displaying towards other handlers approaching, or any other signs that a cervitaur has starting viewing their handler as a mate? What is a handler to do if they see another handler and cervitaur displaying inappropriate behavior towards each other?_ ’

Bae noted her hesitation before she started to write out the handle book’s instructions step by step. He would have to admit that his father’s choice of current mate wasn’t what he had expected at all. If anything, all his money had been on Mal, but Belle was quiet acceptable. Only her species was the only thing that made her wanting for anything. She knew how to handler his father, seemed comfortable ordering him around, and even manage to cut the man’s caffeine intake. He smiled to himself, yes, he very much approval of the handler’s love interest with his papa, and he would certainly encourage it further without tipping anyone but Graham that he knew. With an approving smirk, he went on to write the most graphic and in-detailed of inappropriate behavior display between him and Graham as a handler and cervitaur relationship and how very happy he was that such a display made him late for examination before writing down that if he saw any handler and cervitaur in a relationship that was love and not some conquest, he would encourage to the very last breath.


End file.
